The Beagle Editor, Crown Lands are currently assessing the suitability of the sale of a road reserve, a section of Lagoon St, Moruya, to the neighbours. The residential neighbours to the east of the reserve would be required to pay approximately $70,000 for 500 sq m whilst the rural neighbour on the west would only be required to pay approximately $2000 for the same area. Crown Lands deems this a 'Fair Process’.
The use and/or sale of the reserve land was first raised in 2019 and following a Crown roads inquiry an agreement was reached in 2020 -that it should remain as a road reserve. Two years later, the issue of selling this reserve has popped up again. The neighbour to the west of the reserve has an agreed DA for developing 97 housing blocks and possibly wishes to add the reserve land to his proposed housing estate.
Residents on the east of the reserve, who have been managing the land for over 5 years, believe the land is a significant green buffer with some important trees and wildlife. It is a valuable open space for the local environment and would provide an alternate walking and recreation space for the people who currently use Turnbulls Lane —soon to become the principal access road for 97 houses.
If Eurobodalla Council were to obtain the road reserve, the neighbours would continue to manage the land under a Community Management Agreement (a Section 355). Although some local Councillors stated support for retaining the road reserve as open space, council planning emphatically stated they wanted the land sold as they do not want any land management responsibility.
The neighbours on the east of the reserve recognise the need for suitable land to be made available for houses in Moruya and were pleased that the agreed Development Application west of the reserve protected the large trees on Turnbulls Lane and within the reserve. However, the current proposed land sale of the reserve appears to have been engineered to favour the interests of a developer over that of local neighbours, NSW rate payers in general and the environment.
Swan Ridge Place neighbours of the Turnbulls Lane road reserve
Above: State representative, Dr Holland with some of the residential neighbours of the Crown road
reserve
