Published: 18 August 2025

Eurobodalla Council was approached for comment by two media outlets regarding the recent approval for a development application for a local nursery. Below are the full statements as supplied.

To ABC South East on Tuesday 12 August 2025:

“Council has recently approved the development application for the nursery, subject to the conditions of consent. These conditions remain in place to ensure the development operates under the agreed terms, safely and within the law, and provides consideration for neighbouring properties and the environment.
Council is committed to supporting local business but development must still align with planning controls and protect the amenity of the area. While there is some scuttlebug circulating on social media, Council has assessed this application fairly, transparently and in accordance with planning legislation. The development application process has involved multiple rounds of public consultation, technical review, and consideration of community submissions.
During the development application process, the applicant was asked how they would deal with impacts on amenity, for example dust created as cars passed neighbouring homes. The applicant’s response was a plan showing a sealed road, and this was included as a condition of consent.
Traffic will likely increase as a result of the business operation. A sealed driveway is appropriate to reduce dust and noise impacting neighbours.”

To About Region on  Wednesday 13 August, in response to specific questions from journalist Marion Williams.

One of the objections to the original DA was that Mountain View Nursery was a garden centre, not a plant nursery. A plant nursery is permitted on RU4 with council consent but a garden centre isn’t. On what grounds did council determine Mountain View Nursery was a garden centre given council refused to visit the business to see it for themselves?
"The previous application (which was refused) did not contain sufficient detail about the propagation and growing of the plants on site; the details provided indicated the business primarily relied on selling pre-grown plants delivered to the site. The updated application (now approved) included further details of the business model that detailed propagation methods and the process of ‘growing on’ young plants to larger specimens for on-selling to the public. This satisfied Council the business met the definition of a plant nursery, which requires the plants to be grown or propagated on the site. Council staff have visited the site on numerous occasions. This premise had been operating for a long period without any requisite approval or consent in place."

How often has a state or federal member had to intervene in the case of a DA before council in the last five years?
"The state member did not intervene in the assessment process of the application. An enquiry about the status of the application came from the state members office, to which Council provided a response during the assessment."

One of the conditions of the DA is that 87 metres of road must be sealed. Council’s own guidelines is that a sealed road is warranted when there is traffic of 50-100 cars per hour.  That section of road has traffic of 1.7 cars per hours. Mountain View Nursery paid McLaren Traffic Engineering in Sydney, one of Australia’s leading traffic and parking experts, to assess the traffic and parking requirements. What council is asking of Mountain View Nursery is completely at odds with McLaren. Why is council imposing such onerous traffic and parking arrangements on a small business?
"During the development application process the applicant was asked how they would deal with impacts on amenity, for example dust created as cars passed neighbouring homes, and it was the applicant who proposed sealing the road.
Council’s Parking and Access code does not contain a standard specifying a driveway or parking area must be sealed based on traffic volume. Council’s Parking and Access code states “Sealed pavement car parks will be required for all developments, with the exception of single dwellings” and “Parking areas, particularly those servicing commercial/industrial developments and those accessible by the public must be sealed”. The Parking and Access code requires Council to determine the level of surface treatment based on the nature and type of development, the vehicle turnover and pollution and debris control. Given the proposal is for a commercial development, the driveway should be sealed to mitigate impacts on the environmental and amenity (dust and noise) on neighbouring properties.
The traffic report makes an assessment of the existing traffic volume. However, Council must consider the potential future traffic generation of the business. Based on Transport for NSW ‘Guide to Traffic Generating Development’ a plant nursey can generate much higher levels of traffic than the existing traffic counts noted on the Mclaren report, especially given the counts were taken when the business was running without approval to operate."

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