There are calls for the new Wollongong City Council to follow through with a proposal to stop new housing developments in the foothills of the escarpment to protect the environment and reduce bushfire risk to homes.

It follows a court decision last week in which plans for a controversial new development under the escarpment in Keiraville was rejected by the Land and Environment Court.

That plan – initially for 47, then 42 homes in Cosgrove Avenue – was previously rejected by Wollongong City Council on a number of grounds, including bushfire risk. In its judgement, for a scaled-down 24 homes and 54 parking spaces, the Land and Environment Court said the developer has not “demonstrated that the proposal would provide buildings or their occupants with adequate protection from exposure to bushfire. The DA would be refused on these grounds alone."

Climate change puts more properties at risk

With climate change meaning more regular and intense bushfires, threatening many populations living under the escarpment, local community groups are celebrating the win in the courts.

In a submission opposing the proposed development, Neighbourhood Forum 5 said: “The bushfire assessment has not been revised by the development still retaining a single access point in this area surrounded by bushfire prone land at a time when bushfire disasters are becoming more common due to climate change.”

Also strongly objecting to the development was the Keiraville Residents Action Group (KRAG) which said, “In the face of the devastating and unprecedented bushfires experienced in 2020 along the east coast of Australia, the idea of allowing a development of this sort on a high bushfire prone block of land is completely irresponsible.”

A near miss in 2019-2020

KRAG's submission to Wollongong City Council read: “The fire season events in 2019-20 across NSW narrowly missed the Illawarra Escarpment. Had the fires not been contained at Gosper’s Mountain and Currowan Fire, as well as fires on the Southern Highlands at Bundanoon and Kangaroo Valley, the Illawarra Escarpment would have been alight. A development of this density on the edge of dense bushland is unwise. The impact after the devastating bushfires of 2019-20 now puts the onus on the authorities, who now have a ‘legal duty to enquire’.”

The chairperson of KRAG, Geoff Kelly, said: “We are very happy with the judgement and feel it’s a great victory not just for Keiraville but for all Wollongong in terms of conserving the natural boundary and scenic backdrop of the iconic escarpment. Hopefully, this comprehensive rejection, coupled with previous attempts dating back to January 2020, means this surely must be the last attempt at this site.”

Members of KRAG are using the Land and Environment Court ruling to pressure the new Wollongong City Council to ratify a proposal that would effectively lock up 60 sites along the foothills of the escarpment, preventing future residential development. They include land at Stanwell Park, Wombarra, Mt Keira, Mt Ousley, Mt Pleasant, Balgownie, Keiraville, Figtree, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights.

A new environmental zoning

Included in the Wollongong Housing Strategy 2023 – which will guide all future housing directions in the Wollongong LGA for the next 10 to 20 years – is the proposal to rezone large sections of foothills land from R2 (residential) to an environmental zoning.

The strategy aims to retain the Illawarra Escarpment as a conservation area, with very limited opportunities for additional dwellings.

“It is considered the Planning Proposal is generally consistent with aim and objectives of Planning for Bushfire Protection 2019, as the proposal will generally reduce or limit future residential development in areas mapped as Bush Fire Prone,” the council proposal says.

KRAG's vice chair, Felix Bronneberg, said: “KRAG is strongly of the view that the new council should urgently commence the rezoning process, starting with Cosgrove Avenue, to protect the escarpment and to stop big developers from proposing large DAs in high-risk bushfire settings."

Jeremy Lasek is a member of the executive committee of Neighbourhood Forum 5, which opposed the Cosgrove Avenue development.