12th May, 2026.
Mrs JUDY HANNAN ( Wollondilly )
I express my strong opposition to Wingecarribee Shire Council's Bowral South project for many reasons that are pertinent to State Government agencies and departments—flood, fire, water security, health and transport. Planning for Bowral South should be stopped. The Bowral South concept plan would result in a threefold oversaturation of Bowral's long-term housing supply needs and an overdevelopment of rural and environmental land in Bowral. Council's proposal is to accommodate 100 per cent of the local government area's long-term growth forecast for 2041 in Bowral South, and the planning proposal project is funded by Wingecarribee Shire Council. Putting all of the greenfield housing supply eggs in one basket and under the total control and risk of council—as the proponent, housing planning consent authority, and water and sewer provider—could be fraught with danger for the State Government.
That rezoning would threaten the security and future of the Southern Highlands drinking water catchment area. Bowral South is located downstream of the Wingecarribee Reservoir, a critical water supply asset supplying 90 per cent of the Wingecarribee shire's drinking water, and forecast by council to reach capacity by 2031. Council is the local water authority, and it proposes to fund construction of a new 30-megalitre plant alongside the existing facility at an estimated cost of $90 million. Rezoning Bowral South would complicate and constrict viable options to expand the region's drinking water reservoir for water security. Approving new homes so close to a reservoir slated to double in size is a public risk that should be avoided.
The local community has complained that the Bowral South rezoning proposal is flawed and has significant issues—namely, flood and transport concerns. Since 2021 council has proven to the public and government that it does not have the financial resources, staff or town planning track record to progress Bowral South through the various stages of the gateway process for local environmental plans, let alone to coordinate infrastructure delivery or housing approvals. Site-specific flooding, lack of transport connectivity and walkable amenity issues are significant and extensive at Bowral South. Five years after council adopted its housing strategy, it has not responded to community concerns nor completed the suite of mandatory site investigations and environmental assessments.
Bowral South sits on a flood plain that is regularly inundated after heavy rain, and I fear that thousands of new homes will be at risk. Importing large amounts of fill to mitigate flooding within the development will simply push water to adjacent existing properties, putting strain on infrastructure and transport. Any cut and fill on the site would cut the Bowral South community off from essential services and form a flood island effect. Bowral South rezoning would result in a multiplier effect on local and State infrastructure up-front costs to respond to the existing community, but with additional expensive infrastructure demands by future residents and ongoing long‑term building resilience costs. Bowral South is physically distanced from existing services and amenities by two busy regional roads and the Wingecarribee River. There are no existing traffic signals, roundabouts, crossings, footpaths or cycleways between Bowral proper and Bowral South.
In conclusion, Bowral South is an illogical planning exercise and I am strongly opposed to the project for many reasons that should be relevant to State government agencies and departments, including flood, fire, water security, health and transport. I urge the Government to formally oppose the Bowral South project; expressly remove the precinct's designation as an urban investigation area; and commit to ceasing planning for Bowral South at local, regional and State Government levels. State Government opposition to Bowral South should halt the council's wasteful resourcing of studies for the project. The community would prefer the council to focus on sustainable financial resourcing decisions and make decisions in the public interest, including not deepening the sunk costs of rezoning Bowral South.
The Government should not trust Wingecarribee Shire Council to project manage the planning proposal and housing approvals for over 1,600 homes. I thank my constituents, who can attest to the significant issues and adverse impacts of the Bowral South planning investigations. In summary, constituents by and large are dissatisfied with the performance of Wingecarribee Shire Council with regard to Bowral South. The proposal has been described by some local community members as a "disaster waiting to happen". I urge Wingecarribee Shire Council to prioritise upgrading existing infrastructure to a base level. If anyone would like to see a photo of me standing up to my waist in water after only 24 hours of rain, I am happy to provide that.