A number of Shoal Bay residents have raised concerns about the future of Shoal Bay, following Port Stephens Council's growth plan for the region.
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One of the concerned residents is Roz Welsh who has lived in Shoal Bay for 19 years and her main concern is where an additional 1000 people would be housed across 475 mid density units as proposed in council's draft Local Housing Strategy.
"Sparkling Shoal Bay is unique and surrounded by Tomaree National Park and the waterways of Port Stephens harbours but there is extremely limited road access and very few vacant blocks of land available for building," she said.
Mrs Welsh who experiences first-hand the peak holiday traffic in Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay said the traffic was banked back for more than one kilometre at Easter time.
"Access to the Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay peninsula is limited," she said.
"One road in one road out and this has been an ongoing issue for the past 50 years."
Port Stephens is forecast to grow by almost 20,000 people over the next 20 years and to accommodate the growth, 11,000 new homes will be required.
Port Stephens Council's strategy and environment section manager Brock Lamont said council is working with the community to plan for the growth and to identify where the new housing will come from right across Port Stephens.
"With limited opportunities for new housing developments, increasing housing prices and low rental vacancies, we are seeing the widespread impact of the housing crisis on low to middle income households who can no longer compete in the housing market," he said.
To prepare for the population boom, council has developed the Port Stephens Local Housing Strategy which focuses on three main areas - housing diversity, housing affordability and housing supply.
More than 300 children attend Shoal Bay Public School which reflects the number of families residing in the Shoal Bay area and Mrs Welsh said additional apartments to Shoal Bay will not bring permanent residents to the area in her opinion.
"Additional apartments will be used as 'holiday homes' and will be vacant for at least seven to eight months per year," she said.
Apartments already located on the Shoal Bay Foreshore are currently limited to three-storeys which Mrs Welsh said is currently aligned with the environment.
"Any additional height allowances would impact on beach erosion and override the current height levels," she said.
Shoal Bay is one of many areas across Port Stephens being considered to accommodate additional housing and Mr Lamont said the stunning beaches, National Park and vibrant town centre makes Shoal Bay an attractive place to live and visit.
"We know that over the next few years, more and more people will want to live in this incredibly special part of the world," he said.
The draft Port Stephens Local Housing Strategy proposes an additional 1000 people and 560 dwellings in Shoal Bay over the next 20 years.
Together with the Port Stephens Local Housing Strategy, the Shoal Bay Place Plan will guide how council can manage the increasing demand.
"It will help support housing growth but also ensure we don't lose the unique character and natural beauty of Shoal Bay while improving residents' quality of life," Mr Lamont said.
Earlier this year, the community provided feedback on the draft Shoal Bay Place Plan and Mr Lamont said although there were lots of support for the actions, there were also some concerns raised by the community.
"Many of these concerns and the feedback provided has now been incorporated into the final document," he said.
The feedback incorporated into the final document includes further conversations about changes to building heights, supporting infrastructure and alternate access roads.
The Shoal Bay Place Plan was proposed to be considered by council on April 23.
The Local Housing Strategy remains open for public exhibition until April 29.