The state government unveiled its Shellharbour rezoning package two weeks ago. The real test will be what residents actually flag before the exhibition closes on September 8.
Two state-led rezonings - covering the Shellharbour City Centre and a new precinct around the $828.9 million Shellharbour Hospital - could unlock up to 11,700 homes and 1750 jobs, Health and Illawarra Minister Ryan Park and Planning Minister Paul Scully announced.
Across about 109 hectares of the city centre 10,000 homes are proposed, ranging from two storeys at the edges to aa high of 22 in the retail hub. The hospital precinct at Dunmore adds up to 1700 homes, mostly two to seven storeys, for key workers needing to live near the health campus.
Affordable housing targets track land ownership rather than a flat rate. On government-owned land in the city centre - which makes up about half the precinct, including the TAFE site, the current hospital and Homes NSW assets - the target is 10 per cent. On private land it drops to five per cent. The smaller hospital precinct the target drops two per cent.
The government places both rezonings within its draft 20-year Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Plan, which proposes 117,000 new homes and 161,000 additional residents across the region by 2046. Shellharbour’s exhibition period closes well before the regional plan’s submission deadline.
“These rezonings set out a plan to deliver more homes and more jobs close to the city centre as well as near the new Shellharbour Public Hospital, creating a precinct that supports our healthcare workers and strengthens the region’s future,” Minister for Regional Health and Minister for the Illawarra and South Coast, Ryan Park said.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said the rezoning will strengthen “Shellharbour’s role as an economic and health hub for the Illawarra” while Shellharbour MP Anna Watson has encouraged the community to ”look at the plans and have their say as we help shape Shellharbour’s future”.
Potential pinch points
Property Council Illawarra and Shoalhaven regional director Matthew Wales called the proposals “exactly the kind of planning work regional growth centres need” and pointed to his council’s own Beyond Reach research on essential workers being priced out of the property market. He also said:
“The key test now will be delivery - these plans need clear sequencing, infrastructure coordination and practical pathways that allow industry to turn zoned capacity into homes on the ground.”
Planning documents highlight properties targeted for road widening along Benson and College avenues, alongside plans for Benson Basin to function as a dual-purpose space for recreation and stormwater management. Traffic capacity at critical intersections - including New Lake Entrance Road and Range Road - remain key open questions for the exhibition process to address.
How to make your submission count
Anyone lodging a submission should note the mandatory disclosure of political donations of $1000 or more made in the past two years.
1: Be aware of the wider NSW planning laws when drafting a submission. Objections that simply oppose development types, heights, or densities that are already legally supported by state policies are often set aside by planners.
2: To make your submission legally robust, understand what the law already permits. Here is a breakdown of the key legislative mechanisms in the NSW State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (AKA the “Housing SEPP”).
3: Three chapters in the Housing SEPP are particularly worth reading: Chapter 2, affordable housing; Chapter 5, Transport Oriented Development, Chapter 6, Low and Mid-Rise Housing.
4: Be aware of the flexibility that developers have under the Housing Delivery Authority Pathway and how that pathway connects to affordable housing provision.
Check before you click:
5: Have I clearly stated whether I support or object at the start?
6: Have I identified the specific precinct (City Centre or Hospital)?
7: Have I used specific names like “The Basin” or “Northern Ridge” to pinpoint my concerns?
8: Have I moved past “I don’t like it” to “here is a practical improvement”?
9: Have I addressed a specific local impact like the dual-use of Benson Basin or traffic on College Avenue?
10: Visit the NSW Planning Portal and search for “Shellharbour City Centre Rezoning” to lodge your feedback by 5pm, September 8, 2026.