planning · Central Coast Council
Summerland Point group home deferred over missing details on 85 trees
The Local Planning Panel later approved the 30 Summerland Road proposal after revised arboricultural and ecological information was supplied, with conditions controlling the use and environmental impacts.
A group home proposed for 30 Summerland Road, Summerland Point, was deferred after the Local Planning Panel found information about removing 85 trees in the central part of the site was not accurate across all documents.
The panel voted 3:1 on 2 July to delay a decision on Development Application DA/440/2025 and seek further technical information. It asked the applicant and Central Coast Council officers, including an arborist, planner and ecologist, to resolve the tree-removal issues.
The panel also sought consideration of compensatory or replacement planting where practicable, while meeting bushfire requirements. Further information from the applicant was requested by 6 July, followed by a council addendum by 17 July for electronic determination.
Seven people addressed the panel against approval. Written and verbal submissions raised 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 on those grounds.
The panel reconvened electronically on 20 July after the applicant provided further information and revised plans in stages during July. The material included updated arboricultural impact assessments, an ecology and Biodiversity Assessment Method calculator, revised landscape and civil engineering plans, and bushfire documentation.
The updated arboricultural assessment identified three hollow-bearing trees among the 85 trees in the central part of the site. Council staff accepted the revised arboricultural report. The panel decided an updated Biodiversity Development Assessment Report was not necessary because removing the additional hollow-bearing trees would not increase offset obligations.
The application was later approved subject to amended conditions. The conditions regulate changes from the use described in the Plan of Management dated 17 February 2026, revise replacement tree planting requirements from 0.25:1 to 1:10, and cover contamination investigations, bushfire requirements, landscaping and construction activities.
They also require tree protection, inspections and verification, and the relocation of hollow-bearing tree sections through a Biodiversity Management Plan. Any change to the group home use described in the Plan of Management requires separate approval.
Reference minutes
Central Coast Council Local Planning Panel, Thursday 2 July 2026 meeting, including the later electronic determination recorded in the same official council document.
Key facts from the minutes
- DA/440/2025 concerns a group home and ancillary development at Lot 3 DP 270067, 30 Summerland Road, Summerland Point.
- The application was deferred on 2 July 2026 over inaccurate or incomplete tree-removal information.
- The deferral decision was carried 3:1, with seven people speaking against approval.
- The central part of the site contains 85 trees identified for removal to meet bushfire planning requirements.
- Three of those trees were identified as hollow-bearing.
- The application was later approved by electronic determination subject to amended conditions.
- A change from the use in the 17 February 2026 Plan of Management requires separate approval.
Why it matters
- The proposed group home at 30 Summerland Road can proceed subject to conditions after additional scrutiny of significant tree removal and habitat impacts.