NSW Govt Docs – FOI – FORESHORE FOR ALL!

NSW Govt documents - FOI'd

The 2 documents below were obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in October 2024. In NSW, FOI requests are made under the Government Information Public Access (GIPA) Act 2009.

Rezoning Pathways – Suitability and Readiness Assessment

The Rezoning Pathways Suitability and Readiness Assessment was submitted by Property and Development NSW (PDNSW) to the Department of Planning and Environment. It outlines the agency’s justifications for the NSW Government to seize planning controls for the Jetty Foreshores. It was submitted in the first half of 2024 under the former Rezoning Pathways program, which was relaunched as the State Significant Development Rezoning Policy in September 2024.

It provides evidence that:

The Government is proposing a major development of 450 apartments – 250 permanent residences and 200 tourist units
The Government has not committed to any affordable housing on the site, despite publicly claiming the project is intended to help address Coffs Harbour’s housing requirements
They are aware that the site has been identified as culturally significant for the Aboriginal community, despite ignoring calls by the Gumbaynggirr Elders to respect their calls for it to be kept as open space
The NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has provided feedback to PDNSW that the proposal must be supported by a cost neutral option e.g. must pay for itself. This means the promises of parkland and community spaces depicted in the Refined Masterplan are meaningless, as the plan makes clear that these promises are dependent on Government funding.

Download the full document by clicking on the image below

NSW Govt evaluation of Rezoning Pathways proposal

This 1-page document sets out the key reasons the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) Evaluation Panel recommended the Jetty Foreshore development to be a state-assessed planning proposal (SAPP) under what was then the Rezoning Pathways Policy and which later became the State Significant Rezoning Policy. The evaluation was made on 24 March 2024 and was based on the information provided in the assessment document above, which was submitted by Property and Development NSW (PDNSW), which is also part of DPHI.
This single page provides the entire rationale for the Jetty Foreshore planning control being removed from the Coffs Harbour community.

It shows:

The proposal scored only 6.4 out of 10 against the evaluation criteria, which was lower than any previously endorsed site considered for this approach.
The proposal was only recommended to go ahead only because they thought so much work had already been done, the ‘community consultation’ was underway and because there were multiple NSW Govt landowners. There was no justification related to Government policy, programs, housing supply or other community benefit.
The panel noted that no funding had been secured to upgrade utilities and there was no funding secured to deliver social and green infrastructure e.g. parklands and community open space, although Property Development NSW had put forward a budget request to Treasury (not successful).
The evaluation panel says that the social and affordable housing commitment and infrastructure funding need to be addressed during the rezoning.