A HEAVILY-WOODED 3.22-hectare (32,230 sqm) piece of land on Langsford Way, Valla Beach has been sold at auction for $1.9 million, following months of community action to stop potential residential development on the site.
As previously reported in NOTA, the land was formerly owned by the NSW Department of Education and identified as surplus during a 2024 government property audit.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) has assessed the land to be suitable for around 60 dwellings.
It was taken to auction by Belle Property Nambucca Heads on behalf of the NSW Government on 22 April.
The property was passed in initially, selling later that day to a registered bidder for $1.9 million.
In the days before the auction, Nambucca Valley Council made a last-ditch attempt to defer the sale.
On 17 April councillors MacSmith and Jones called for an extraordinary council meeting to discuss the issue.
On 21 April during a public forum, community members Teena Pitman, Judith Kirwood and Sally Townley outlined their concerns over the sale to councillors and council staff, covering issues such as wildlife protection, habitat destruction, infrastructure shortages and a lack of transparency from the government.
Councillors later resolved that Council would “urgently contact by phone” Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper MP, Education Minister Prue Car, Oxley MP Michael Kemp and Cowper MP Pat Conaghan, to request the sale be deferred until further consultation could take place.
The motion also authorised the Mayor or General Manager to make direct contact with the DPHI prior to the auction to negotiate on Council’s behalf regarding alternative outcomes for the site, including “housing sympathetic to the existing village character that creates genuine opportunities for new and younger home buyers and ecological protection”.
Despite the last-gasp Council motion, the auction proceeded in Sydney last Wednesday and the land was sold.
Later that day councillors resolved to write to Premier Chris Minns requesting that any proceeds from the sale of Lot 1 Langsford Way be allocated to Council to undertake detailed design work for future residential land within the Valla Urban Growth Area (VUGA).
Mayor Gary Lee said he did not agree with the State Government’s process to divest the Department of Education land, citing a lack of community consultation.
He said he wanted to ensure the proceeds of the sale deliver a direct benefit to the Nambucca Valley community, by supporting the development of VUGA.
“While this visionary project (VUGA) has its Stage One industrial precinct being constructed now, thanks to an investment of $11.2 million from the Australian and NSW Governments and $17 million from Council, we need further government investment if we are to unlock its residential housing supply,” Mayor Lee said.
“VUGA is a Council-led, strategically planned precinct, underpinned by more than 25 years of planning, community consultation and rezoning.
“If the State Government and the Premier Chris Minns are serious about delivering new regional housing supply, which was their premise for selling Lot 1 Langsford Way in the first place, they should be serious about funnelling its proceeds into VUGA.
“The land Council directly controls at VUGA could yield 140 new homes, should the Federal and State governments commit to funding its lead-in infrastructure.
“And then there’s the privately-owned adjoining land, which I estimate could deliver a combined 700 new homes.”
The DPHI has informed NOTA that proceeds from the sale of audit sites are returned to NSW Treasury and are factored into the funding of the NSW Government’s $6.6 billion commitment to social and affordable housing.
“The NSW Government expects the site to be able to deliver up to 60 homes, with the land zoned R1 General Residential under the Nambucca Local Environmental Plan 2010,” a spokesperson for DPHI told NOTA.
“Any development activity is a matter for the new owner with appropriate oversight from the NSW planning system and Nambucca Valley Council’s Environment Plan.”
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