The man responsible for the South Kiama planning proposal, Graham Morcom of White Constructions, doesn’t give any weight to the arguments of the people opposing the approval as the community consultation on the land happened some time ago.

“I don’t understand why various people are doing all this, because in 2011, the land went through community consultation and was put into the Kiama Urban Strategy,” he says.

“In 2020, the same councillors who are against it now endorsed the Local Strategic Planning Statement and the South Kiama land is included in that document for rezoning.

“All this required community consultation.

“This land is only good for housing, and people are screaming for more housing.”

Mr Morcom says the recommendation from Council to reject the planning proposal was not accepted by the Department for good reason as there was even more evidence it would work.

“In 2019, Council’s Director of Planning and staff assessed the planning proposal and recommended that the LEP be amended accordingly. The councillors rejected their own planning and

engineering staff who are employed with the skill base to complete the work.

“The latest recommendation against the proposal has been rejected as incorrect because the Government says it does have strategic and site specific merit.”

He says 100 people from the area have already put down their name to buy a block of land.

As for those criticising the reports that form the basis for the decision, he says they should leave it to the experts.

“The State Government has approved it after a rigorous process,” he says.

“Councillors are not engineers or planners. The Department’s planners and the engineers are the ones who say it works. That is why they’ve approved it.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on traffic reports for the road system in and out of the area, and it is rated A under all traffic conditions.”

Mr Morcom is surprised by the opposition to the decision by the Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, given his early support in 2016.

“I had several meetings in his office and he took me to the Office of the Planning Minister.”

He is looking to the future.

“We are encouraged by the comments of Kiama Council CEO Jane Stroud to work together proactively and collaboratively to complete the process and supply much needed housing lots to the local community.”