Sealark Pty Ltd on behalf of the Halloran Trust is moving forward with the West Culburra housing development for consideration by the NSW Land and Environment Court.  This is an amended proposal of a previous application that was rejected by the NSW Independent Planning Commission in 2018.

We strongly oppose the West Culburra Concept Proposal SSD3846 primarily because:

- it constitutes overdevelopment that is inappropriate for a town like Culburra and will negatively impact the Culburra Beach environment - in particular the Crookhaven catchment, its coastal forest and wetlands, the Crookhaven River and Curley's Bay;

- the clearing of forest for the proposed housing estate will degrade Aboriginal cultural heritage and displace already threatened species of birds and wildlife. Pollution from residential water run-off will negatively impact the Crookhaven River, the wetlands and the oyster and fishing industries;

- a large increase in population will create traffic congestion on the only road that comes in and out of town, thus preventing safe evacuation in the event of bushfires;

- the proposed high-density housing is not in keeping with the look of the rest of Culburra, which will devalue the town and have a detrimental effect on local businesses;

- the housing estates presented in this current proposal do not meet a sufficiently high level of building standards;

- there has been insufficient community consultation in the formulation of this proposal.