Summerland Point group home approved after 85-tree review

A proposed group home at 30 Summerland Road, Summerland Point, has been approved after the Local Planning Panel deferred the application over inaccurate and incomplete information about the removal of 85 trees.

The application, DA/440/2025 for a group home and ancillary development at Lot 3 DP 270067, was deferred on 2 July. The applicant was asked to provide further information by 6 July, while council officers were to prepare an additional assessment by 17 July.

The main issue was the proposed removal of 85 trees in the central part of the site, where the group home is planned. Further information, revised plans and technical reports were provided during July.

An updated arboricultural report identified three hollow-bearing trees within the group of 85 and was found acceptable by council staff. An updated Biodiversity Assessment Method Calculator found that removing the additional hollow-bearing trees would not increase offset obligations.

The approval includes amended conditions covering tree removal, habitat protection, landscaping, bushfire requirements and contamination investigations. Replacement tree planting requirements were changed from a ratio of 0.25:1 to 1:10. Conditions also provide for hollow-bearing tree sections to be relocated through a Biodiversity Management Plan, with inspections, protection and verification requirements.

A condition now requires separate approval for any change to the group home use described in the Plan of Management dated 17 February 2026. Other changes correct condition references and wording, remove a site-specific risk assessment requirement while retaining a detailed contamination site investigation, and amend the heading for Section 7 to refer to occupation of the manufactured homes.

The proposal attracted significant written opposition. Seven people spoke against approval on 2 July, raising concerns about the nature of the group home and whether Summerland Point had enough infrastructure and services to support it. Community representative Robert Carter opposed approval, and the initial deferral passed 3:1.

The Panel reconvened electronically on 20 July, considered the revised material and approved the application subject to amended conditions circulated by council staff. The development must follow those conditions and the approved Plan of Management.