Port Stephens Council has revealed its vibrant vision for the Nelson Bay town centre in a bid to attract investment to the precinct.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Nelson Bay Next represents a new brand for the CBD in the same vein as Newcastle Now.
The brand places emphasis on Nelson Bay being a place where people can live, work, play and grow – with a focus on more cultural activity like markets and the arts.
The brand was launched on Wednesday to coincide with the public exhibition of the council’s final draft of the revised Nelson Bay Town Centre and Foreshore Strategy – over a year in the making.
Related reading:
Increased building heights will form part of the strategy, along with a CBD facelift built around the Yacaaba Street extension, and a review of parking.
All of the strategy’s measures are backed with a commitment to conduct annual progress reports under a community panel.
“We realise that Nelson Bay has been stagnate for a long time but there are positive signs,” the mayor Ryan Palmer said.
“Yacaaba Street will be a positive space people will want to spend time in, with attractions that might include a fish market or a cushion theatre.”
After review of developer costs the council has confirmed it will lift the development ceiling from five storeys to 10 in some areas. This will require revision to the local environment plan.
“Of the 30 points there’s only one that’s controversial and that’s building heights but if we want to see investment then things have to change,” Cr Palmer said.
“We’re still listening, it’s definitely not going to be 10 storeys across the board. If people could give us their opinion on where the height is acceptable, it would be helpful.”
To tackle car parking concerns the council will form a citizens’ jury to consider alternative short and long term sites on the CBD-periphery, dependent on available funds.
Related reading:
Height helps build prosperity: Council
A clearer picture is developing of how the Nelson Bay CBD might look if planning rules are amended to lift the construction ceiling.
Port Stephens Council yesterday released its Draft Nelson Bay Town Centre and Foreshore Strategy which contains 30 points to boost economic activity in the CBD.
Among them are five key actions; controlling building heights, the Yacaaba Street extension, community-driven action, parking solutions and improving the appearance.
Under the existing planning rules a maximum of five storeys is permitted, up to seven, under council review.
The draft would allow buildings up to 10 storeys, with caps of two and three storeys proposed at the marina and foreshore respectively.
“We haven’t seen any [residential] development in the town since 2006 and as a council building heights is one tool we can use to address this,” the council’s strategic planning coordinator Jeffery Bretag said.
“Throughout the [six-week] exhibition period we will take a more fine grained look at where these heights are acceptable.”
Mr Bretag said there was multiple benefits to lifting height restrictions.
“If we’re not developing the town centre for more people to live here then we’re seeing more pressure to develop the edges of our urban areas and that puts more pressure on koalas,” he said.
“The other advantage is if people are buying new units the council is able to collect developer contributions on improving the streetscape.”
This fee is $16,000 per unit.
“Without development we have to spend rates or like with the Yacaaba Street extension, borrow the money, neither being sustainable,” Mr Bretag said.
How council goes about improving the streets and public spaces within the CBD will be subject of a separate plan.
The public domain plan will outline a consistent design theme and identify a wish list of big ticket items for which the council can apply for grants.
“We’ll be asking ourselves what does the paving, street lighting and benches all look like, in this public domain plan,” Mr Bretag said.
“It’s only then that we can determine what we need and put a cost against it, so we can prioritise work, and apply for various grants.
“The biggest thing that government can do is invest in a town’s appearance because it will encourage business to invest too.”
Mr Bretag said centralisation would create a more vibrant town centre.
“There are elements that make great places including higher density living – with space around the buildings – which gives business the incentive to open up,” he said.
Community called on as part of strategy
A panel of community members will assess the progress of Port Stephens Council on its revised plans to reinvigorate the Nelson Bay CBD.
The implementation panel will meet quarterly and provide the council with an annual report each year.
That’s in response to criticism that the 2012 Nelson Bay Town Centre and Foreshore Strategy didn’t facilitate investment in the CBD.
“We’ve got a renewed focus on implementation so there’s a panel that will meet quarterly and report annually on the progress,” the council’s strategic planning coordinator Jeffery Bretag said.
“I truly believe that the implementation phase is the most important part.”
The community’s involvement won’t end there. Select members of the public will form a citizen’s jury to consider traffic data, funding and the feasibility of more parking on the peripheries of the shopping precinct.
“We’ve had a number of traffic and parking studies done,” Mr Bretag said.
“They all say that parking is chockers for four weeks of the year but outside peak season, it’s not.
“The jury will be selected at random – they won’t be your usual suspects. We’ll be reaching out to those people who haven’t had their voices heard before.”
The draft revised Nelson Bay Town Centre and Foreshore Strategy is expected to be adopted mid-2018.
While the CBD has not seen a significant residential development since 2006 – the Mantra Aqua Resort – the council pointed to a series of smaller wins since the last plan was adopted in 2012.
These included the lease of two sites for temporary parking stations, facilitation of the Woolworths development (which included 137 new car parking spaces), adoption of the Apex Park masterplan (2015) and most recently a start on the Yacaaba Street extension.
Other wins include the establishment of the Sacred Tree Markets, Tastes at the Bay, and New Year’s Eve celebrations. The Artisan Collective has also boosted cultural activity, utilizing vacant shops, under the council-run Smart Arts program.
