Now, the 40 metre Church Street crane in Nelson Bay's CBD has come under the notice of Port Stephens Council.

In a notice of motion put forward at the May 11 meeting, east ward councillor Glen Dunkley requested that the council investigate how the idle Nelson Bay crane can be removed as soon as possible. It has been towering over Nelson Bay for four years.

But they need not worry, says the crane's owner and prominent Port Stephens developer Rod Salmon, with a new development application for an $85 million housing development on the site expected to be lodged with the council within weeks.

Known as Ascent, the newly designed development - expected to be up to 33 metres in height - would feature 80 luxury two and three-bedroom apartments with four penthouses.

"We want to create a quality development that people can live in, not to rent out of holiday let," Mr Salmon said.

"If we can get DA approval from the council before the end of the calendar year, we could be looking at a construction certificate by February and commence construction in March 2022.

"The development is then expected to take two years."

Mr Salmon has engaged GHD Woodhead architects and local builder Drew Constructions to undertake the work.

He believed it was the right time to commence construction in Nelson Bay because unit prices had caught up with the booming property market.

"We had to abandon our last plans due to the economic downturn and the uncertainty over building height limits. We are in a better position to go to the market with the number of retirees looking for coastal living," he said.

Mr Salmon is no stranger to the Tomaree Peninsula, having recently developed the Talmora project in Nelson Bay.

He also has investments in the Nelson Bay cinema mall and former Caltex site.

The Sydney-based developer has an existing DA for 17 units at a Government Road site in Nelson Bay and has plans for 23 apartments at 17-19 Yacaaba Street.

In response to Cr Dunkley's notice, the report stated that while the crane had not been used for active construction works for some time, "a valid development consent remains in place".

"The community has raised visual and safety concerns with respect to the crane," Mr Salmon said.

"Following conversations with the owner, active work is being undertaken to progress the development on the site."

The report stated that there was limited compliance action that council could take with respect to the visual impacts of the structure and that the crane was registered with SafeWork NSW until the end of 2021.

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