Kiama Council’s Draft Housing Strategy is on public exhibition until 27 April 2025.

Make a submission NOW expressing your opposition to this development being included in the Strategy.

Concerningly, and despite earlier drafts of the Strategy not including Springside Hill as an greenfield option, and Council’s resolution of 16 April 2024 rejecting the Springside Hill rezoning proposal, the version 2 strategy now includes Springside Hill as a “Potential New Greenfield Opportunity”.

Inclusion of the West Kiama site in the strategy completely disregards the strong views of the community. 

Some points you may wish to raise with Council are:

• The Strategy must be a document that reflects the view of the community. This has not occurred, noting the submissions that were made in respect of the version 1 strategy in the Public Exhibition Engagement Report.
• The Kiama West Precinct must be removed as a “Potential New Greenfield Opportunity” and from the Kiama Urban Expansion Area to ensure that the document reflects the April 2024 decision of the Council (as supported by a community petition) to reject the Kiama West rezoning proposal.
• The Strategy should reflect the views expressed by the Council‘s media statement published on 23 September 2024 in response to the “conditional" determination by the Southern Regional Planning Panel.
• Kiama West should not be included  in the Housing Strategy as a decision on this planning proposal is yet to be made, and inclusion of the site at this stage may influence the decision of the SRPP and/or State Government.
• Council and Councillors must actively advocate for the development of the Bombo Quarry site as a priority as this project can deliver the necessary growth and housing needed to support the township of Kiama for the next 20 plus years without destroying the green rolling hills of the area that the community has consistently  asked to be valued and protected.
• Both the Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Plan and the 2020 Kiama Local Strategic Planning Statement captured the importance of protecting the character of our towns and villages, protecting our environmental lands, protecting our agricultural lands and our unique rural landscapes with their green rolling hills and dry-stone walls. The current Strategy fails to reflect these values held by the community.
• The Strategy’s evidence base relies on Implied Dwelling projections issued by the Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure in 2022. These have since been replaced by 2024 Data which show significantly less implied dwelling projections. The Strategy must be amended to apply the 2024 data so as to not over inflate the number of dwellings needed in Kiama from 2024 - 2041. 

If you want further information on these points, an information sheet is downloadable HERE.

Make a Submission 

We encourage you to make a submission through the Kiama Council website at  https://yoursay.kiama.nsw.gov.au/local-housing-strategy either by filling out Council’s feedback form or uploading your own document response.

To ensure your voice is heard, and is not just included in a summary of ‘themes raised’, we also encourage you to forward your submission to Councillors at the following email addresses:

• Mayor Cameron McDonald - cameron.mcdonald@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Deputy Mayor Melissa Matters - melissa.matters@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Councillor Erica Warren - erica.warren@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Councillor Mike Cains - mike.cains@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Councillor Matt Brown - matt.brown@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Councillor Imogen Draisma - imogen.draisma@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Councillor Stuart Larkins - stuart.larkins@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Councillor Melinda Lawton - melinda.lawton@kiama.nsw.gov.au
• Councillor Yasmin Tatrai - yasmin.tatrai@kiama.nsw.gov.au