Port Macquarie Hastings Council's position

Understanding Council's role in the Ocean Pool proposal

There is widespread confusion within the community about Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's position on the proposed Oxley Beach Ocean Pool.

Many people believe Council has approved or endorsed the project because it voted to progress the Planning Proposal to the NSW Government for Gateway Determination. This is not what Council resolved.

Council's role to date has been as the local planning authority, responsible for determining whether the proposal should enter the formal NSW planning process. Progressing the proposal to Gateway Determination allows the State Government to independently assess whether the Planning Proposal has sufficient strategic and planning merit to continue through the statutory planning process. It is not an approval to build the Ocean Pool, nor is it a commitment by Council to fund, own or operate the facility.

The Ocean Pool is not a Council project

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has consistently stated that the proposed Ocean Pool is not a Council project.

According to Council's Ocean Pool Fact Sheet, the proposal is a community initiative led by the Port Macquarie Tidal Pool Committee, with Council's involvement limited to its statutory planning responsibilities.

Council's published position states that it has maintained a consistent position of non-involvement in the development, funding or delivery of the project. It has only provided planning assistance consistent with the role it performs for other development proposals.

Why did Council allow the proposal to proceed?

Under the NSW planning system, Council was required to determine whether the Planning Proposal should be forwarded to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for Gateway assessment.

Gateway Determination is an early statutory step that allows the State Government to independently consider whether a proposal has sufficient strategic merit to continue through the planning process.

Importantly, forwarding a proposal to Gateway does not indicate that Council supports the development. Rather, it enables the proposal to undergo further technical assessment, consultation with government agencies and public exhibition before any decision is made about whether the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) should be amended.

Council's decision therefore related to allowing the statutory planning process to continue, not endorsing the Ocean Pool itself.

Council's resolutions

Council has adopted a number of resolutions regarding the proposal over several years.

These include:

• May 2018 – Council resolved that an ocean pool was not a strategic priority for Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

• July 2023 – Council resolved to provide in-principle support for the Committee to undertake planning activities, including providing owner consent for the lodgement of a Planning Proposal.

Importantly, Council's resolution specifically stated that this did not commit Council to:

• funding the project

• constructing the facility

• owning the Ocean Pool

• operating or maintaining the facility in the future.

Council identified significant issues

Although Council resolved to allow the Planning Proposal to proceed, Council staff also identified numerous planning, environmental, financial and technical matters requiring further assessment before any future decision could be made.

Council advised that these issues are the responsibility of the proponent to address, not Council staff, because Council must remain independent when assessing any future planning application.

These issues include matters relating to environmental impacts, coastal hazards, biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, engineering, financial sustainability and compliance with planning legislation.

Many of these matters form the basis of the concerns raised by Protect Oxley Beach throughout this website.

Council's strategic priority remains the Aquatic Centre

Council has consistently identified the Port Macquarie Aquatic Centre as its highest strategic priority for aquatic infrastructure.

Council's Ocean Pool Fact Sheet confirms that the redevelopment of the Aquatic Centre is the organisation's principal aquatic infrastructure project. Community consultation on the new facility has been underway for almost two decades, with the development application approved in 2024 and planning well advanced. The project is intended to provide a contemporary regional aquatic facility that meets the long-term needs of the wider Port Macquarie-Hastings community.

By comparison, the proposed Oxley Beach Ocean Pool has not been identified within Council's Community Strategic Plan, Recreation and Open Space Action Plan, infrastructure strategies or long-term capital works program as a strategic priority.

Council's assessment report also recognises that the organisation has finite financial and operational resources. It notes that if Council were to assume responsibility for funding, owning, operating or maintaining the Ocean Pool in the future, other existing or planned infrastructure projects and service priorities would likely need to be reprioritised to accommodate the significant ongoing financial commitment.

This is particularly relevant given Council has recently adopted significant rate increases over the coming five years while continuing to manage a substantial infrastructure renewal backlog across the local government area.

For these reasons, Council's own assessment identifies the Port Macquarie Aquatic Centre as the priority aquatic investment for the region, with the proposed Ocean Pool remaining a separate community-led proposal rather than a Council strategic project.

What happens next?

The Planning Proposal is now being assessed by the NSW Government through the Gateway process.

If the proposal ultimately receives a Gateway Determination allowing it to proceed, it would still need to:

• complete all required environmental, cultural heritage and technical investigations

• undergo public exhibition

• receive approval to amend the Local Environmental Plan (LEP)

• obtain all necessary landowner consents

• secure funding

• obtain development approval through the Regional Planning Panel.

Each of these stages involves further assessment and does not guarantee that the Ocean Pool will ultimately proceed.

Our understanding of Council's position

Protect Oxley Beach recognises that Council has an obligation to administer the NSW planning process fairly and independently.

However, it is equally important that the community understands what Council has not done.

Council has not approved the Ocean Pool.

Council has not committed to funding, constructing, owning or operating the facility.

Council has consistently maintained that the Ocean Pool is not a Council project, and that progressing the Planning Proposal to Gateway Determination was a procedural planning decision rather than an endorsement of the proposal.

Understanding this distinction is essential to ensuring informed public discussion as the proposal continues through the statutory planning process.