Residents of the tiny rural town of Seaham were claiming a victory of sorts after Port councillors knocked back a significant planning proposal at a meeting held last Tuesday night.
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A fortnight after councillors agreed to progress a 38-lot subdivision proposal to a Gateway process at nearby 610 Seaham Road, Nelsons Plains, Port councillors voted on September 22 to refuse a request that sought to rezone [from RU2 rural landscape to R5 large lot residential] 32.2ha of land at 4 Giles Road, Seaham.
Council planners had recommended refusal of the subdivision, which the applicant had sought to reduce lot sizes from 40ha to 1ha, due to the rezoning request being inconsistent with both state and local strategic planning framework.
Calls by councillors Paul Le Mottee, Ken Jordan and Chris Doohan for a deferral to allow the applicant more time to reassess the proposal was also defeated.
"The site immediately adjoins the Woodville locality and is accessed via Giles Road. It is presently used for livestock grazing, and surrounding land uses include large rural holdings, some containing chicken farms, and some smaller concessional allotments," the council report said.
"The planning proposal seeks to facilitate rural residential development in a location that is inconsistent with Live Port Stephens (LPS), the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Plan 2036 and the Hunter Regional Plan 2036. LPS provides criteria to ensure that rural residential development occurs in appropriate locations.
"The subject land does not meet exclusionary criteria as it is in proximity to land that may be suitable for urban purposes."
Meanwhile, serious traffic safety concerns at the intersection of Italia Road and Pacific Highway raised by both the council and Transport for NSW were identified as the reason for Port councillors to reject an application to expand the life of Seaham Quarry.
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Councillors voted unanimously to refuse a DA to lower the existing pit floor at the Italia Road, Balickera, site after councillors Giacomo Arnott and Steve Tucker had earlier called for, and lost, a motion to defer.
Quarry owner Boral had proposed to retain the operation, in existence since 1991, within the existing development footprint and provide access to an additional 3.3 million tonnes of resources by digging further down the pit to extend the extractive life of the quarry.
"The quarry produces between 0.9 and 1.3 million tonnes of crushed rock products per annum, requiring approximately 180 truck movements to and from the site per day," the council report noted. "Truck movements from the site utilise the intersection of Italia Road and the Pacific Highway, which is recognised by council and Traffic NSW as being inadequate in its configuration to facilitate safe right-hand truck movements from Italia Road.
"While the application does not propose to increase the rate of extraction or increase the daily number of truck movements, if approved it would extend the life of the quarry thereby resulting in heavy vehicle movements into the future."
A traffic assessment had found "an inadequate level of service (queuing), at the intersection of Italia Road and the Pacific Highway from 2024, based on continued quarry operations" proposed under this application.
"It highlights deficiencies with the intersection, including poor sight distances which are inhibited by the crest in the highway alignment to the south" and that the assessment had not identified any measures to improve the intersection.
The council report stated that "inconsistencies have been outlined to the proponent on numerous occasions since the proposal was lodged, including in correspondence and meetings in September 2017, August 2019, and in January, May, July and August 2020".
