Residents on the Tomaree Peninsula are celebrating a significant victory after a controversial plan to build a massive 584-lot housing estate on flood-prone land was officially rejected.
Planning Panel Sides with Community and Council
The Hunter Central Coast Joint Regional Planning Panel has thrown out the proposal for the development at 263 Gan Gan Road, Anna Bay. The decision, made on December 2, 2025, aligns with the stance of both the surrounding community and Port Stephens Council, which argued the project was unsuitable for the area.
The panel found the proposal, from developer AB Rise, lacked strategic merit. A key factor was that the site was not identified for housing growth in the recently released Port Stephens Local Housing Strategy (LHS). This strategy had previously considered the Gan Gan Road land but concluded it was not suitable, pointing to other, less constrained areas within the local government area.
Flooding, Fire, and Koala Habitat at the Heart of Objections
The project faced fierce opposition from dozens of residents and community groups, who raised a litany of serious concerns. Paramount among these was the risk of widespread flooding. To make the site buildable, the developer planned to import between one to four metres of fill, equating to roughly 1000 truckloads of material, to raise the land above the flood level.
Locals argued that Anna Bay has experienced seven extreme rainfall events, described as one-in-a-thousand-year downpours, in the past 80 years. They feared the development would exacerbate existing flooding problems on local roads across the peninsula.
Other major objections included:
- Increased fire risk in the bushland-adjacent area.
- The clearing of 32 hectares of vegetation, including valuable koala habitat.
- Potential adverse social impacts from the scale of the development.
The site was also recently flagged on Coastal Vulnerability Area mapping under state environmental planning policy, and the proposal was deemed inconsistent with the policy's objectives, as well as ministerial directions on conservation, flooding, and coastal management.
A Decision That Cannot Be Appealed in Court
In a decisive move, the planning panel's rejection is final and cannot be appealed to the Land and Environment Court. This provides certainty for the celebrating residents.
Port Stephens Council staff had earlier recommended refusal, stating the project was inconsistent with several key planning documents, including the Hunter Regional Plan 2041. A council report bluntly concluded that due to flooding constraints, environmental values, and its inconsistency with the identified urban footprint, "the site is not considered suitable for the proposed urban development."
The rejection stands in contrast to a separate, smaller 34-lot development on Gan Gan Road, which received approval from the Land and Environment Court earlier in the year.
