Background:
The Shoalhaven Council has voted to approve the construction of 17 units on a single block, 44 Duncan Street, Huskisson. This block is zoned R3 – Medium density. Nearly half of Huskisson is zoned R3 and now has the potential to have unit blocks built on it.

If you are interested in checking who voted for and against the development on 44 Duncan street here is a link, go to item number DE20.37 DA19/1841 (first agenda item after Reports).

Duncan Street is a quiet, tree lined street with mainly single storey homes and several two storey blocks of town houses.

There are numerous reasons for our concern as a community representative body, along with other people we voiced our concerns to Council prior to their decision.

This decision sets a precedent. This type of development will change the face of Huskisson and set a precedent for other local areas including Nowra, Bomaderry, Berry and Ulladulla.

We agree that more units would be useful, we are not against all development but it needs to be development that fits in with the character, and the values of Huskisson and the bay.

We are calling on community members who are also alarmed by this decision to urgently write to the Council and/or sign our petition.

Update 22 May 2020:
Unfortunately the advice that we could request a rescission motion wasn’t correct and a rescission motion will not be going ahead. Instead, we are focusing our efforts to see if we can liaise with Council to revise and fine tune the Local Environment Plan (LEP) relating to R3 zones. 
Since the letterbox drop on Sunday we have done two radio interviews (2ST and local ABC), the petition has gained over 1000 signatures, and we have 163 people following the Facebook page. Many people have written to council expressing their extreme disappointment. We will endeavour to keep you updated through our emails, Website and Facebook.

The community’s concerns about approving 17 units on 44 Duncan St are:

• Council has now set a precedent by approving 17 units on an R3 block in an area of predominantly single storey homes, there is now no certainty for anyone that lives on/adjacent/near R3 zones that they won’t all be developed to this density. It is a precedent for Huskisson, Nowra, Bomaderry, Berry and Ulladulla.
• Potentially 134 blocks could have 17 units built on them, that is 2300 extra units – approx. 9000 extra people,
• Huskisson is going to look like a crowded city suburb – not attractive for tourists or residents,
• The Council’s own Local Environment Plan (zoning plan) indicates that the maximum height is 11m but this development goes over that,
• The Council’s own Development Control Plan states:
  that the floor space ratio must be no more than 0.7:1
  • – this proposal far exceeds that, with a Gross Floor Area of 2029 m2 over a block size of 1012 m2,
  • the proposed development must ‘enhance and make a positive contribution to the character of existing buildings and streetscapes and reinforces the built form and environmental conditions of the locality’ – this proposal doesn’t do that.
  • ‘medium density is generally considered to be development between (NOT equal to) the scale of a dwelling house and a residential flat building’. We say that a block of 17 units must be considered a residential flat building and is therefore not ‘medium density’ but ‘high density’ development. It appears Council have ignored their own Development Control Plan.
  • The community hasn’t been told how the council plans to provide the infrastructure needed to accommodate this level of development – electricity supply, narrow roads, lack of public transport, parking, and sewerage.
  • 134 additional unit blocks means that most surfaces in Huskisson will be impermeable and all runoff will go straight into the bay – with everything in it. Currently much run off is filtered by lawns/soil and the wetlands.
• We are not against all development but it needs to be development that fits in with the character, and the values of Huskisson and the bay.

We need you to urgently contact the Council

Your opinion matters. The more people who contact Council, the better.

 sign our petition