9 THE PENINSULA CHAMBER of Commerce has expressed its concerns and frustrations over the lengthy delays in achieving development approvals for significant developments in the Ettalong Beach town centre precinct. “It is a never-ending source of frustration for the construction industry that gaining development consent for key residential/commercial developments takes years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve”, said Peninsula Chamber of Commerce President Matthew Wales. “Sadly, development proposals are being refused by Council and the Local Planning Panel only to be referred to the NSW Land & Environment Court to be approved. “It is not uncommon for applications to take 12 to 18 months to get through Council often without any indication that Council will not be supporting the developments”, Mr Wales said. “Due to the high turnover of Council planning staff and the critical shortage of replacement planners, applications often go through two or three sets of hands during the assessment process further delaying DA assessment times. Council planners have up to 30 applications cued up at any given time meaning that important investment and job generating DA’s are held up for months on end”. Mr Wales highlighted two major mixed use developments at 223 Ocean View Road and 302-306 Ocean View Road that were both refused by Council and the Local Planning Panel and subsequently approved by the Land & Environment Court after two years in the system. “The current mixed-use application at 273 Ocean View Road (the old Post office site) has recently been recommended for refusal by Council after 18 months of assessment by five different Council/contact planners and may also end up the Land & Environment Court”, Mr Wales said. He said, “At a time when Councils and governments are lamenting the lack of housing affordability and availability, the very system itself works against the approval and construction of housing in town centres where it is needed the most. The cost to the community is significant with property holding costs, legal fees, consultant costs, Council fees and the rising cost of construction all working to push the price of housing up and affecting the viability of the project”. BUSINESS NEWS Planning roadblocks at Central Coast Council “This large-scale injection of capital from the private sector into the Central Coast region has and will continue to create more than 250 jobs both directly and indirectly through the construction period and more importantly due to the introduction of automation create new skilled jobs to the region that don’t exist here today,” said Ms Basford. Front cover photograph Proposed Ocean View Road development refused by Central Coast Council Chartered Accountants Audit, Taxation and SMSF services for SMEs and Individuals. We provide support, business advice and strategy on accounting, taxation and self-managed super funds. FAST • RELIABLE • PERSONAL • PROACTIVE www.harwoods.com.au | 02 4365 3142 Suite 3.29 Platinum West 4 Ilya Ave, Erina NSW 2250 New purpose built facility for Chamberlain CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Chamberlain Group’s Leadership Team visiting the site in August to review progress of construction (l to r) : David Lockwood – Head of Engineering Tony Harlick – Head of Finance/IT, Kathryn Ellis – Head of Human Resources Graeme Sheekey – Director of Operations Brendan Mullen – Head of Sales Rodney Boag – Director of Product and Services Allison Basford – Chief Executive Office – Space Urban, Peter Cormack – Financial Controller Grant Emanuel – Vice President and Managing Director CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2023
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