Blue Haven Bonaira land reclassification

Blue Haven

Kiama Council has identified the need to reclassify the public land of the Blue Haven Bonaira site to ensure it is being operated in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993.

The land on which Blue Haven Bonaira sits is currently classified as community land, and needs to be reclassified as operational land. When Council acquired the site it should have resolved to classify the site as operational land within three months, but was not done due to an oversight.

Council engaged MMJ Town Planning and Advisory to prepare the Planning Proposal to reclassify the site. Once prepared, the Planning Proposal was submitted to the NSW Department of Planning & Environment, for a Gateway Determination.

The planning proposal was put on on public exhibition for 28 days from 13 March, as notified in the Gateway Determination and following the NSW Government's 2022 Local Environmental Plan (LEP) Making Guideline(PDF, 10MB).

A public hearing was then held on 22 May 2023.

The purpose of the public hearing was to give the community an opportunity to expand on written submissions and discuss issues in a public forum chaired by an independent facilitator, who was engaged by Council.

The independent facilitator has provided a Public Hearing Report, which is publicly available to download here: Locale-Consulting-Public-Hearing-Report-Kiama-Blue-Haven-FINAL.pdf(PDF, 2MB) .

You can also view a print-out of the report at Council's Administration Centre, our Libraries and at Blue Haven Bonaira reception. 

The Public Hearing Report, any submissions and a recommendation will next go up to Council, who will vote on whether to reclassify the land. 

Planning Proposal information 

The Planning Proposal (PP) seeks to amend Schedule 4, Part 1 of the Kiama Local Environmental Plan 2011. The planning proposal seeks to list Lot 2 DP 1215276, 14A Bonaira Street, Kiama under Part 1 of Schedule 4 as 'land classified or reclassified as operational land - no interests changed'. This change will give effect to Clause 5.2(2) of the LEP so that the subject land will no longer have community land status.

Council is the designated Local Planning Making Authority.

State Agency Referral

The Planning Proposal has been referred to NSW RFS for comments.

Public exhibition of the Planning Proposal on the Planning Portal

The Planning Proposal (PP) was placed on public exhibition on the Planning Portal for 28 days.

The PP was on public exhibition from 13 March 2023 to 11 April 2023 via the NSW Department website.

The Planning Proposal and all supporting documents can be viewed on the Planning Portal via this link:

Planning Proposal - Reclassification of Land - Blue Haven 14A Bonaira Street, Kiama | Planning Portal - Department of Planning and Environment (nsw.gov.au)

Public hearing

Given the proposal is for a reclassification of land, a formal public hearing was also held.

The Public Hearing for the Reclassification of Land - Blue Haven 14A Bonaira Street, Kiama was held on 22 May 2023, from 5.30pm in Council Chambers.

Council gave notice in a letter to each of the persons who requested a public hearing when making a submission at least 21 days before the date of the hearing.

The Public Hearing was chaired by an independent facilitator. Council commissioned a local government expert to support this process and run the public hearing on behalf of Council.

The public hearing had around 40 registered attendees and 16 speakers. The hearing was not livestreamed nor recorded. 

Next steps

Following the Public Hearing, the submissions made during the exhibition process and hearing are compiled into a report by the independent facilitator. This report is then provided to Council for final decision on the proposal.

You can view a copy of the report here: Locale-Consulting-Public-Hearing-Report-Kiama-Blue-Haven-FINAL.pdf(PDF, 2MB)

Next, the report, any submissions and a recommendation will go up to the elected Council to vote on. 

Given Council has been granted Local Plan Making Authority, the report to Council would formally make the LEP if supported. This will likely occur mid-2023. 

 

Reclassification of land process

 

 

Location

14a Bonaira St, KIAMA 2533  View Map

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