Court grants consent for 7 Blue Bay townhouses, cut from 8

A conciliation conference ran on 1 September 2026 and was then adjourned so the parties could keep talking on a without prejudice basis. Those talks produced amended plans that cut the scheme to seven townhouses and, the judgment says, settled the council’s remaining objections.

Both sides then signed a section 34 agreement. Under that provision the Commissioner had to resolve the case on those terms if the Court could lawfully have made the same decision, and the judgment finds that it could.

The judgment also states that the Commissioner was not required to make, and did not make, any assessment of the merits of the development against the discretionary matters in section 4.15 of the Act. The outcome rests on the agreement between the parties. We covered a separate Land and Environment Court consent in Maroubra earlier this week.

The numbers

According to the judgment, the application was lodged on 15 April 2026 and notified for 21 days, from 5 May to 26 May 2026, under the council’s Community Participation Plan 2025-2029. One submission was received.

The site is zoned R1 General Residential under the Central Coast Local Environmental Plan 2022, where multi-dwelling housing is permitted with consent. The judgment says the site is within 800 metres walking distance of The Entrance Town Centre, which places it in a low and mid rise housing area under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021. That means a higher floor space ratio applies than under the local plan, and the judgment says the amended plans comply with it.

The judgment also records that the amended plans show a building height below the permitted height in the local plan, and that they meet the non-discretionary standards for minimum lot size, minimum lot width and car parking. It says the deep soil area and tree canopy both exceed the percentages in the state Tree Canopy Guide for a site of this size.

An updated BASIX certificate was issued on 9 October 2026. Ausgrid, which the council notified of the application, advised that it did not object.

What’s next

Consent is granted subject to the conditions in Annexure A to the judgment, which the council sought and the applicant agreed to. The judgment does not set a construction start date, a build cost or a sale plan, and none is stated here.

The applicant is to pay the council’s costs thrown away under section 8.15(3) of the Act, as agreed or as assessed. The judgment does not state an amount.