Wyong Council approves managed resort and residential development - but will it happen?

Wyong Mayor, Clr Bob Graham made the announcement through a press release that was dutifully published in the local media with the indication that the development would start immediately and create hundreds of jobs.

However, what was not said was that over one hundred conditions were placed on the developer which will take more than a year to work through and then have to go back to Council for approval. Along with a residential care development at Kanwal that was approved at the same Council meeting –and which could also take some time to get off the ground, Clr Graham said, “These are huge developments. There’ll be hundreds of jobs during the construction phases, continuing full-time positions and hundreds of flow-on jobs. “It’s fantastic news for the shire.”

CCBR has learned that The Entrance development, which stretches from the El Lago Motel site, west almost to Tuggerah Parade and encompassing the lower part of Oakland Road, is unlikely to be started within the next three years. Clearly it is a major project and will comprise 509 permanent and tourist apartments, conference centre, retail area, restaurants, cafes, tavern, child care centre, an indoor amusement park with two levels of basement car parking. Some apartments will be nine storeys high and have sweeping views of Tuggerah Lake and the Pacific Ocean. It shows that there are developers, even in this financial climate, who have confidence in The Entrance and are prepared to take big risks.

Already residents are opposing the development and are marshalling their forces. Whether the developer is prepared to go to the expense of working through the conditions set by Council remains to be seen. It has to be said though that Wyong Council has always been focused on making The Entrance attractive to developers. More than twenty years ago Council designated a site on the corner of The Entrance Road and Marine Parade as a ‘Key Site’ and has gone to all lengths, within reason, to accommodate the owner, to no avail.

Back Send us your comments