Kiama Council is getting on the front foot to protect biodiversity in the Minnamurra River following concerns that the new $700 million Shellharbour Hospital at Dunmore could have a severe detrimental impact on the environment.

Council voted on 14 December 2023 to write to the NSW Minister for the Illawarra, Ryan Park, and the NSW Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe, to note residents’ concerns about the potential adverse impact of the hospital development on the biodiversity of the Minnamurra River and surrounding ecosystems.

Kiama Council will also seek clarification on what planning instruments are in place to protect the river, and seek assistance to establish stronger planning controls, such as introducing a site-specific Biodiversity and Conservation State Environmental Planning Policy, and seek assistance to establish those planning controls.

The motion was voted in favour by Councillors Imogen Draisma, Jodi Keast, Stuart Larkins, Karen Renkema-Lang and Kathy Rice. Votes against came from Councillors Matt Brown, Mark Croxford and Warren Steel.

According to the local community group, the Minnamurra Progress Association, no Environmental Impact Statement or Climate Resilience Report was submitted as part of the application for the Dunmore site. 

The MPA has extensively listed the environmental issues with the new hospital, which would be built less than 500 metres from Minnamurra’s delicate mangrove forests, home to a number of threatened and endangered species. The MPA says that the developer must also notify the government if the development is within ten kilometres of a registered rainforest, which has not taken place.

According to the MPA, the current building plans would result in:

• Increased sedimentation and runoff into Rocklow Creek impacting water quality
• Reduced quality of aquatic habitats in the river
• Increase of weeds, pathogens and pest flora
• Increase in suspended sediments reducing photosynthesis of aquatic macrophytes
• Decreased oxygen levels in the river

The Friends of Minnamurra River (FOMR) have also raised concerns about the controlled release of drainage water into the river from the hospital building site. With more intense rainfall expected over the next two summers, FOMR has requested regular and publicised water quality tests of the drainage water, especially before any controlled water release into the river. 

The Shellharbour Planning Assessment report states that this water will be held in sediment basins and discharged into the Minnamurra river “in accordance with industry standards.”