FAQs

The current Area Plan includes building design controls for Murrays Beach and the Coastal Sector known as Pinny Beach. The current Area Plan contains a control that requires specific building design controls for the Northern Sector to be prepared and incorporated into the Area Plan during the subdivision phase to ensure the housing considers the built form management considerations for North Wallarah area. 

With one development application already being approved and another currently being assessed, Area Plan controls are required to ensure relevant controls are in place for the Central Precinct within the Northern Sector for building design.

The revised Area Plan will apply to the Central Precinct within the Northern Sector as identified in yellow in the map below.

Figure 1: Location of the Central Precinct within the Northern Sector

The North Wallarah Peninsula Area Plan will be amended to include new controls for the Central Precinct within Part 5 of the Area Plan. The draft amendments provide controls that are largely consistent with the rest of LMDCP 2014. However, additional controls are included in the draft Area Plan relating to built form, facade building materials, private open space, roofs, landscaping, colour selection, garages, building heights and dual occupancies to reflect the unique North Wallarah Peninsula environment.

Two development applications for subdivision have been submitted to Council.  DA/1656/2019 has been approved and seeks to develop 262 residential lots, a 1.17Ha neighbourhood centre, public open space and access to Mawson’s Lookout. DA/505/2020 is currently being assessed by Council and seeks to develop 149 residential lots and associated community infrastructure.

The development will have access off the Pacific Highway. No road connections are proposed to Caves Beach within the Area Plan, with gated emergency vehicle access off Scenic Drive.

Pedestrians and cyclists will also be able to move between Caves Beach and future development in the Northern Sector and Coastal Sector via the emergency vehicle access points.

No development applications have been submitted for the Northern Precinct as shown in grey in Figure 1 above. The North Wallarah Pensinula Area Plan includes controls that will guide the development of this area. The Area Plan will similarly require design guidelines for built form for the Northern Precinct of the Northern Sector at subdivision stage.

A development application (DA/130/2008) has been approved in 2009 for the Coastal Sector which created 90 residential lots and a village centre. The development is expected to result in 375 allotments with an expected population of 1,125 people.

The North Wallarah area was subject to extensive planning and environmental investigations in the late 1990s. This led to the adoption of the North Wallarah Peninsula Conservation and Land Use Management Plan (CLUMP), and introduction of the Lake Macquarie Local Environmental Plan – North Wallarah Peninsula (North Wallarah LEP 2000) to guide the development of 2000 residential lots in the North Wallarah area and conserve environmentally significant land. The North Wallarah LEP 2000 rezoned the land to permit residential development, with some ancillary retail and commercial activities. Council also adopted the North Wallarah Master Plan in 2003, which provided management plans for ecology, bushfire, open space, social and physical infrastructure, visual and built form management.

The North Wallarah LEP 2000 planning controls were incorporated into the Lake Macquarie Local Environmental Plan 2014 and provisions from the CLUMP and Master Plan were incorporated into the Area Plan, which was adopted by Council in 2013.

After reviewing the objectives and controls outlined in the draft Area Plan you can:

• Make a submission via our online tool on the project page or by emailing [email protected]
• Submissions may also be sent by mail to the following address:

           ATT: Angel Troke

           Lake Macquarie City Council

           Box 1906, Hunter Region

           Mail Centre, NSW 2310.