Sealark has now submitted its DA for clear-felling the 47Ha native forest proposed development site on the outskirts of Culburra Beach.  Because this development is listed as an SSD (State Significant Development), the consent authority will be the Southern Regional Planning Panel, and the DA (DA25/2276) is open for public submissions until 19th December 2025.  

Please help us by taking the time to submit your objection - this moment is particularly crucial, so we need everybody to have their say.  No voice is too small - submit your opinion in a couple of sentences using the online form, or submit a detailed objection by uploading an attached document; both are immensely valuable!

Submit your objection here.

What happened to Nil-or-Beneficial-Effect on waterways?
Approval of DA25/2276 relies on the developer meeting all the conditions of consent applied at various stages of approval. Issues around water quality and water management have formed some of the most important consent conditions because Culburra Beach is bounded by two highly sensitive environmental bodies of water - Lake Wollumboola and the Crookhaven Estuary.  These conditions require a Nil or Beneficial Effect (NorBE) of the development on the Lake and Crookhaven River.

But has the developer proven the development will have a NorBE on the local water quality? No. Expert independent review of the developer’s plans and reports has pointed out time and again flaws in process, data collection, interpretation and planning in modelling and testing the effect this proposed development will have on both groundwater and run-off.  It’s time the government paid attention to these objective experts and refused this DA approval because it is clear the development will not have a nil or beneficial effect on important local waterways.

In summary:

• incorrect assumptions made about the flow of groundwater mean the NorBE testing planned is not correctly monitoring groundwater between Culburra Road and the Lake’s edge - making it impossible to prove a nil or beneficial effect of the development on Lake Wollumboola.
• the use of non-local data, outdated methods and incorrect calculations means the annual flood height figure being used is not sufficient to protect the area from stormwater inundation during a flood, the runoff of which will pollute the waterways, failing the NorBE condition.
• the developer’s models fail to account for catchment-specific tidal interactions, groundwater–surface water exchange, and extreme-event variability, significantly increasing the risk of on-site inundation, uncontrolled stormwater discharge into Curley’s Bay, and exceedances of water-quality thresholds in adjacent estuarine systems, all in breach of the water management NorBE consent condition.
• representatives of the local oyster industry claim the developer’s revised impact report shows a lack of understanding of the disastrous effects of runoff on the local aquaculture businesses.

In addition to these serious concerns about the ability of the development to have a nil or beneficial effect on the local waterways, there are many other significant reasons why a development at West Culburra will be damaging to us all:

• The Jerrinja Local Aboriginal Land Council continues to oppose the West Culburra development on the grounds that clear-felling the forest will cause permanent environmental and cultural damage to Country.
• Culburra’s infrastructure is already at breaking point and council doesn’t have the resources or funds to fix the problems. Yes, new residents will bring in additional rates for council … but there will also be more roads, drains, parks and associated infrastructure to be maintained.  Adding more residents is not a solution, it’s compounding the problem.
• This development has already caused the Culburra Road speed limit to be reduced from 100 to 80km/h - and they are not finished yet.  If this DA is approved, we can look forward to three roundabouts to get in or out of town and further speed limit reductions - impacting our lifestyle and safety in emergency scenarios.
• One of the base-level arguments touted by the developer in favour of West Culburra is that it will be good for business owners in Culburra.  But in reality, the result will be greater competition for Culburra’s businesses in a slightly worse business-to-population environment, making life tougher for Culburra’s existing business owners.
• This development will destroy habitat and negatively impact at least five species listed as threatened or endangered under federal law: Greater Gliders, Gang-gang cockatoos, Glossy black cockatoos, Grey-headed flying foxes, and Yellow-bellied Gliders.

If you’d like more information, you’ll find further details HERE on each of the points summarised above.  Please choose any reasons that resonate with you to include in your own words in your objection submission.

Yours sincerely,
The CRRAG team