TEN months after Port Stephens councillors threw their support behind a Woolworths at Fullerton Cove, a spanner has been thrown into the works with the development now canned.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Originally to be built on the corner of Nelson Bay and Fullerton Cove roads, in July 2013 councillors supported the idea and sent it to the state government for a gateway determination, which allowed for "detailed investigations to proceed".
The original plan aimed to rezone the land from rural agriculture to general business and environmental protection to allow a supermarket-anchored "neighbourhood" shopping centre to be built.
It has now been reported that the state government has knocked back the proposal because of its proximity to "oyster aquaculture and the Hunter Wetlands National Park".
There were also concerns that it was on flood-prone land containing "endangered ecological communities".
It follows a council report from 2013 which stated there could be environmental issues at the site with a possible loss of 1.8 hectares of wetlands.
It is reported that Woolworths will continue to look at different ways it can bring a store to Fullerton Cove.
