Design process

Currently under construction, this development is due to be completed between 2019-2021. It will eventually house 5000 people in 2000 dwellings. This comprises 1800 dwellings on the site under development by Miltonbrook, and another 200 on adjacent council land – which is covered by the same Development Application (DA).

Partly because it is a ‘non-standard’ approach, this project has had a long inception and the developer and Shellharbour City Council faced a number of planning challenges. There have also been periods of significant public objection to the project, largely on the grounds of its higher than usual density. The property was zoned in 1994, and a community charette concerning the planning of the town centre was held in 1996. The developer’s consultants worked closely with Council strategic planners to develop a site-specific Development Control Plan (DCP) for the development (adopted by Council in 1999) and a set of Building Design Guidelines for the town centre (adopted in 2006). The original DA was lodged in 2000 and approved in 2001. However this was subject to a third party appeal and overturned in the Land and Environment Court in 2002. In 2003 the developer lodged a new DA. As the Council did not deal with the DA, the developer subsequently took the DA to a successful appeal in 2004.

In 2005 the civil works for the development were completed, including water, power and rerouting and the restoration of an existing creek on the site. Building work began in 2006 and the first 31 homes were completed in late 2007, with 26 of these sold by late 2008. The building of the Tullimbar Public School was begun in 2007, and the school opened in February 2008. Road and drainage services and associated works for the town centre commenced in 2008. A retirement village is due to open in 2010.