In response to the Government's directives to COVID-19, Council has cancelled the planned community information sessions.
To ensure the community could be involved in Phase Three - Statutory Community Exhibition of the LSPS program, an online Kiama LSPS 2020 - Community Information Session took place on Wednesday 22 April.
A number of questions were asked during the session.
These questions have been grouped into the following FAQs.
All Councils in New South Wales are required to prepare a LSPS that will set out:
- a 20 year vision for land use in the local area
- the special characteristics which contribute to local identify
- shared community values to be maintained and enhanced
- how growth and change will be managed into the future.
A Council's LSPS must be consistent with the relevant:
- Community Strategic Plan, and the
- Regional Plan
Phase One - Community and Scoping
Engagement undertaken in October/November 2018:
- 3 community workshops
- 1 business/tourism workshop
- primary and high school student workshop
Held to identify the priorities, issues and themes.
Phase Two - Community Testing
Four community workshops held at Gerringong/Gerroa Jamberoo, Kiama and Kiama Downs to confirm the priorities, issues and themes identified in Phase One.
Seven technical papers were produced.
Phase Three - Community Statutory Exhibition
The draft LSPS is on public exhibition from 23 March until 4 May.
The draft LSPS contains:
- background information about the LSPS and the Kiama Municipality
- consistency with the Community Strategic Plan (CSP) and Regional Plan
- 20 year vision for the Kiama area
- planning priorities for the next 20 years
- specific actions for achieving our planning priorities
The draft LSPS is on public exhibition from 23 March to 4 May 2020 and can be viewed on our website. Community information sessions have been held at:
- Joyce Wheatley Centre - Saturday 14 March - 9.30am to 11.30am
- Online - Wednesday 22 April - 5.30pm to 7.30pm - a recording of this webinar has been made available on Council's website
Public submissions are welcome and should be addressed to the General Manager quoting SC3389.
Question - If there is no clear base data for housing demand in terms of affordable housing and housing of different tenures, how will Council be able to set goals and monitor changes?
Answer - It is really important to note that the LSPS is not setting any housing standards. The draft LSPS is seeking to take a flexible approach in responding to changes in regional housing demands. The draft LSPS outlines that Council will not support additional greenfield expansion apart from those shown on the maps. When it comes to different types of housing, whether it be affordable housing, seniors living etc, these requests will be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 51 minutes and 30 seconds.
Question - Also the local community is not a robust source of data for setting targets for affordable housing or tenure diversity. Who will you be collaborating with to set these targets?
Answer - The conversation around affordable housing was had during the Phase 2 exhibition period. It is important to understand that there are a number of legal mechanisms that can require applicants to provide affordable housing when they are undertaking developments. But what it means is that Council needs to provide either additional greenfield sites or allow increases in heights and densities. This is probably at odds with the desire to maintain the existing and desired future feel and character of our towns and villages. So its sort of important to temper any comments about affordable housing with that legal and legislative framework.
The Kiama area is in a unique position within the region. There are other places within 10 to 15 minutes drive that can provide affordable housing as required.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 51 minutes and 30 seconds.
Question - Is there any plans to update the Kiama Urban Strategy?
Answer - As part of endorsing the final LSPS it is anticipated that the Kiama Urban Strategy will be repealed.
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - The housing strategy relies on Bombo producing 2000 dwellings within 10 to 20 years. In the presentation it was suggested that the redevelopment of Bombo is beyond the 20 year period of the LSPS. Where will the shortfall within 20 years come from?
Answer - The Kiama Urban Strategy estimates that the Bombo Quarry site could provide 429 new greenfield dwelling opportunities. The draft LSPS does not set dwelling targets but encourages an appropriate balance of greenfield and infill residential development to meet housing demands.
Kiama's capacity to meet projected housing demand requires consideration of strategically identified housing supply, including future new release areas in the planning pipeline. The November 2018 urban development forum recorded a capacity for approximately 455 lots, which when added to the 617 identified under the Urban Development Program, would take the total capacity of new release areas to 1072 lots.
Kiama's housing completions have tracked about the annual average projected under the Regional Plan over the last two years and has done so without an over-reliance on greenfield housing supply. Within this context, it is considered that the existing greenfield dwelling opportunities within Kiama are sufficient for the short to medium term.
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - How does the Council work out a location of urban boundaries?
Answer - The maps that are currently contained within the LSPS came from the Kiama Urban Strategy. The Kiama Urban Strategy was a document prepared back in 2011 by a team of community members and Council staff who reviewed a number of requests to have properties rezoned either to residential or commercial as part of preparing the 2011 Local Environmental Plan (LEP). All of these requests went through a review process that involved the community members and Councillors. Some of these properties were rezoned with the publication of the 2011 LEP. Others were mapped in the Kiama Urban Strategy for future rezoning.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 49 minutes and 33 seconds.
Question - Why is Kiama Heights not specifically identified as an area like Minnamurra and Kiama Downs, as it is geographically separate and has a unique character that is distinct and therefore the planning controls should recognise this eg provisions for medium density residential development and higher buildings may be suitable for the Kiama town and central areas, but not for Kiama Heights.
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - Does Kiama Council have a vision for development in Jamberoo. Will this be in the Strategic Plan? If so, what would be the timings?
Answer - The best way to answer that is with the slides that show the map for the Jamberoo area. Council is saying that these sites are appropriate for urban expansion of Jamberoo. When it comes to say infill development and what commercial areas may look like, the LSPS does not go into that detail.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 45 minutes and 33 seconds.
Question - Is the Council open to green developments, aged care managed villages and overnight accommodation to support theme park and local attractions. Mudgee has wine, every town has a theme so does Council have a theme for Jamberoo?
Answer - The LSPS does not identify a particular theme for one town or village over the other. I think its really important that we don't delve into such a fine-grain level of detail. As I mentioned before the relationship between this LSPS and Council's other planning documents, namely the LEP and DCP, if there is ever a request to make changes to those and its not consistent with the LSPS, we have to say no. So if the LSPS says the theme for Jamberoo is dairy then I will only support the dairy industry in that area. If an application comes in that is a really innovative idea and supported by the community, we wouldn't be able to accept it. So I think its really important that we keep it at a high level and say that were are going to support development in key sectors in the area by implementing the recommendations of the REDS and the Marine Based Tourism Strategy.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 47 minutes and 48 seconds.
Question - Can you elaborate on Council's thought process with regard to boosting the nighttime economy as mentioned during the presentation?
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - How does the expansion of extractive industries such as sand mining fit into the position Council is presenting here.
Answer - I think its really important to note that we are not saying extractive industries are not welcome in the Kiama area, because that would be an ironic twist of fate in a key point of Kiama heritage which is associated with basalt. We are making the point in the LSPS of saying is that we do not want to see the expansion of such land uses into environmentally significant areas. These are the areas that are currently zoned E2 which is our highest level Environmental Protection Zone. You wouldn't want to see active industries expand into these zones.
Question - There was a paper on Jerrara Dam development. Will this become a priority or be included in the Council's priority moving forward?
Question - What is Council planning to do to attract more business or employment in Jamberoo to service existing and possibly new families in the town?
Answer - With the planning priority that deals with economic development and growth, we're talking about Economic Development and growth for the Kiama area at large. So, the development of those key sectors that I mentioned on the screen; being visitor accommodation, health and disability and aged care sector, education, IT services and agriculture. We're not definitely saying in one town and village over the other but we're going to support them in general and any way that we can do that for the Jamberoo community.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 46 minutes and 18 seconds.
Question - Does the Council have a plan to make a Committee or promote Jamberoo as a community or weekend destination?
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - Would Planning Priority Six (or some other planning instrument) incorporate the handling and preservation of Blowhole Point? The community would no doubt be concerned by developer interest in that area over recent years. Can Council comment on its position now and into the future regarding the conservation of this environmental and tourism asset?
Answer - Blowhole Point is a really unique landscape, both physically and legally. The whole site is Crown Land. Under the Crown Land Management Act, Council is required to classify all Crown Land that they manage. At the February meeting, Council resolved to classify Blowhole Point as Community Land, which means that a Plan of Management needs to be prepared to spell out exactly what can and cannot happen on the land. The Plan of Management process is about to commence. This is a process which will involve the community to determine how they want to see their Community Land managed, now and into the future. So it's a process that's underway and it sits under a separate piece of legislation and that's why it hasn't been commented on necessarily under this document. Once a Plan of Management is in place it will say exactly how Blowhole Point is going to be used. If a developer comes along and wants to put in a hotel accommodation and the Plan of Management says "no motel accommodation permitted" it will not be supported.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 54 minutes and 18 seconds.
Question - What does activation of the Harbour mean? Are there plans for this?
Answered during Webinar - No. Question emailed after webinar.
Question - When and how does Council intend to identify Agricultural Lands?
Answer - The State Government is mapping regionally important agricultural land, as outlined in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Regional Plan. This project should be finalised this year.
Question - If the main focus of the vision is the protection of natural, heritage and scenic values - noting you've identified the need for an LGA wide ecology study - how and when are the scenic assets going to be spatially identified?
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - It is essential that communities are walkable and self-supporting in terms of services and facilities in easy walking/cycle distances to the majority of dwellings. Many parts of the Kiama urban areas are not walkable - will the LSPS set targets for improving walkability and self-containment?
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - The LSPS talks a lot about "the community" - what is Council's definition of "community" as it does not appear that consultation has targeted minority/disadvantaged groups who would had barriers making their issues registered with Council's engagement processes (eg renters, social housing residents, social housing providers).
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - With respect to Planning Priority Seven, we've heard several murmurs of an intended Kiama-Sydney commuter rail service to provide faster commute times between Kiama and Sydney. Is Council aware if this is on the horizon and can Council comment on how that might look?
Answered during Webinar - No.
Question - Is the Council prepared to improve infrastructure for the town?
Answer - Some of the infrastructure Council is responsible for, being roads, parks and gardens, is part of the work that is being included in the preparation of the new infrastructure contribution plans. For the other infrastructure, being sewage, water electricity etc, Council is going to continue to work with those suppliers to ensure that adequate infrastructure is supplied to meet the demands associated with future change and growth in our towns and villages.
Answered during Webinar - Yes. 47 minutes and 17 seconds.