Gerringong businessman Derek McMahon is at his wit’s end over the “unfathomable” decision by Kiama Council to exclude his Sims Road property from the Employment Lands Strategy.

Council approved the Draft Employment Lands Strategy at its meeting on Tuesday night and it will be placed on public exhibition for 28 days.

In his report to Council, director of strategies and communities Ed Paterson recommended that Sims Road should be included in the Strategy even though the land was not included in the consultants’ recommendations for future employment lands.

“This site has long been identified as a potential future employment precinct and was previously supported by Council to be rezoned,” Paterson wrote.

He added the site was appropriate for employment land “due to both north and south bound connects to the Princes Highway and consideration should be given to including the three hectares at 5 Sims Road, Gerringong as future employment lands in the final ELS given it has current permissibility as a highway service centre”.

However, a motion was moved to exclude Sims Road from the Employment Lands Strategy with Councillors Mike Cains, Yasmin Tatrai, Stuart Larkins and Melinda Lawton on board with only Matt Brown voting to keep it in.

Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald, Deputy Mayor Melissa Matters and Erica Warren abstained from voting due to a “significant non-pecuniary interest” because they had ran on McMahon’s independent ticket at the 2023 elections.

McMahon was furious at the decision and wants the community to know that a project that could deliver major economic benefits to the area has again been stymied.

“These councillors, who represented almost 35% of the vote at the election and campaigned under the mantra of “Locals for Community and Business”, have already demonstrated their commitment to those values. In their first major vote affecting both community and business, they were unable to effectively represent their voter base,” he said.

The managing director of McMahons Transport purchased the land in 2020 with a view to the three-hectare area becoming a place where businesses in the Kiama local government area could have the room to expand their operations.

McMahon said his family started operating Kiama Landscape Supplies in Barney Street in 1980 for nearly three decades before complaints from the neighbours about the noise effectively ended their tenure there.

As their business has expanded into wholesale operations and transport, they have operated in the Brown Street industrial area, the Bombo Quarry, a couple of other spots outside the LGA and now at Minnamurra Waste Depot.

“Effectively that's 45 years that we've been operating in and around the LGA and there has been no general industry space developed for us to have the opportunity to even move our business to or let alone grow. And we're not alone,” he said.

“The list of companies in town that are frustrated by this issue is a mile long.

McMahon said the Sims Road area was ideal for industrial businesses.

“I'd been looking for land for a long time. It ticked a heap of boxes for me. It's on an interchange, you don't have to go past a single resident to enter or exit so truck movements are really not an issue.

“It is not bounded by any residential and the houses that are there are a long way away. So noise is not an issue, it dissipates.

“It has a high level of background noise because it's on the freeway and anybody who knows anything about noise engineering knows that that's an enormous advantage.

“It has got sewer and water on it. There's no agricultural value to it whatsoever. So there's a heap of little unique things like that.”

McMahon said Council voted unanimously at the time to bid against him for the property five years ago to buy it for employment lands.

He said after the auction he went into Council and met with the planning team.

“We agreed that we had the same goal. And the then General Manager instructed his planning team to get it done. They were his words.

“So that was the first council that effectively voted it up for industrial land. We then put it through. We did the planning proposal. We got it through Council once, but there was an issue with the wording in the proposal.

“So we had to go back through a second time. The first time we got it through 7-2, only the two Greens voted against us.”

Council records note the two councillors at the time who voted against McMahon’s proposal were happy for ratepayer funds to be used to achieve the same outcome of employment land.

“Then we went through a second time and the same thing happened. We went up 7-2. So we had approval. So the planning proposal was accepted.

“It went to state government for the gateway approval for it to be the zoning change. Now, the state government didn't necessarily knock it back, but they didn't approve it.

“They just said to us, look, fundamentally, we've got no issue with it but there was a little bit of a problem in the way that we'd gone about it.

“They basically said we went through what's called a Schedule 1 activity, which was not to change the land zoning, but to then operate some businesses off it. And they effectively said what you actually need is industrial land.

“That's what you're asking for. In order to get that, you need to go away and put it in a strategic plan and then come back with it, and then we'll consider it.”

That was in 2022 and McMahon has been working with Kiama Council since.

“We've waited patiently for the Housing Strategy to come out, which originally the employment plan strategy was to be part of that. Whilst that process took place, they separated it. Now, when that process started, we did an expression of interest.

“We put Sims Road in for zoning change. So we've ticked all the boxes and done everything we had to do.”

McMahon said he took exception to the report presented to Council by a consultancy firm which the ELS states “has been based on a desktop analysis”.

“They left Sims Road out of the draft, unfortunately. And for what reason, I don't know. There's no explanation in the draft for that. It's just like it's been forgotten.”

McMahon said some of the land that has been designated for future commercial use in the Draft Strategy was a riparian zone with two creeks running through it “so they’re going to lose at least half of it”.

He addressed around 30 disgruntled local business operators at Gerringong Town Hall on Thursday morning to update them on the latest developments.

McMahon indicated that they will form an action group and make further submissions to Council to ensure the Sims Road precinct and other local land is added to an updated version of the Employment Lands Strategy.

“It’s just crazy. We need jobs for current residents and their kids, we’ve got to start creating some noise.

“So now our fight is to get it reinstated back in (the ELS). The community now has to apply the correct pressure to the councillors.”

The Bugle contacted the four Councillors who voted against Sims Road - Cr Cains and Cr Tatrai did not comment while Cr Larkins said he is encouraging the community “to provide feedback on this draft strategy for future consideration at a council meeting”

“I felt as though any new proposals for employment lands need to be suggested through that process, rather than focus on any specific proposals at this time until I’ve had an opportunity to fully understand the site-specific inclusions.”

Cr Lawton issued a statement to say her vote “should not be taken as a position for or against the merit of 5 Sims Road”.

“My focus has been, and continues to be, on ensuring that we follow a consistent, transparent and defensible process in developing and implementing the Housing Strategy and its supporting documents.

“My concern in this case stems from the process taken at the July meeting, where Councillors suggested the ad-hoc addition and removal of sites outside of the detailed strategic framework.

“I campaigned strongly for our Housing Strategy to present clearer, integrated information across multiple planning layers, rather than focusing on housing in isolation.

“Council ultimately decided to keep the various elements separate. I fully respect that decision, and I will continue to work within those parameters.

“I acknowledge there is a long planning history associated with this site, including past approvals from Council and previous refusals from the NSW Department of Planning.

“At this point, what is most important is that the community can now provide their submissions on the Draft Employment Lands Strategy, which may or may not support other areas, including or similar to 5 Sims Road.

“Depending on community submissions, I would assume that any sites suggested would be assessed appropriately and transparently, within the broader framework of the adopted Housing Strategy.

“If any future rezoning proposals come before Council for any employment lands, these would need to be fully assessed on their strategic and planning merits and measured against the relevant planning framework, including the adopted Housing and future Employment Lands Strategies.”