12/10/2026
NSW GOVERNMENT DECLARES JETTY FORESHORE CONSULTATION A SUCCESS AFTER COMMUNITY FAILS TO CHANGE ITS MIND.
The people of Coffs Harbour have spoken.
The NSW Government has listened.
The NSW Government will now proceed.
After eight years of community engagement, the Jetty Foreshore revitalisation process has reached another milestone in the extraordinary administrative art of recording disagreement.
On 14 September 2024, Coffs Harbour electors were asked whether some Jetty Foreshore land should be used for multi-level private residential development.
33,161 voted NO.
That's 68.68 per cent of formal votes.
The poll was advisory and not legally binding on the State Government. It was also a specific question about private residential development, not a vote against every form of foreshore revitalisation.
The State Government then held a separate public exhibition of its proposed rezoning in May and June 2025.
Of 1,724 submissions received, the reported breakdown was 1,054 opposed, 613 supported and 57 expressing no position.
The Government considered the submissions, amended parts of the proposal and, on 2 October 2026, announced the rezoning had been finalised.
The final controls continue to permit private residential development, with buildings between two and six storeys and an indicative mix including approximately 250 homes and 200 tourist accommodation rooms.
Rezoning is not development approval. Individual proposals will still require further assessment.
Naturally, the Department has responded by proposing an entirely fictional six-storey COFFS HARBOUR COMMUNITY LISTENING CENTRE.
A waterfront monument to the successful collection, processing and filing of public opinion.
Inside, visitors will find:
The WE HEARD YOU exhibition, where objections are converted into PDFs and stored in a folder marked COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
The AFFORDABLE IN PERPETUITY experience, where visitors enjoy three minutes of affordable housing before being escorted into the remaining 97 per cent of the exhibition.
The COMMUNITY FIRST café, serving $14 sourdough, $8 coffees and complimentary submission forms.
And the Centre's signature attraction:
THE CONSULTATION EXPERIENCE.
A private booth.
Two buttons.
YES.
NO.
Press either.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK.
YOUR RESPONSE HAS BEEN RECORDED.
The result remains unchanged.
To be clear, the Government did consult. It did make changes. Some residents support the development, and there are legitimate competing arguments about the future of the foreshore.
Consultation does not legally require a government to adopt the majority position.
But it does raise a question worth asking.
When 33,161 people vote against a particular category of development, and the final planning controls still permit that category of development, what exactly counts as successful consultation?
The Government can point to its engagement records.
The community can point to the ballot box.
THE GOVERNMENT DIDN'T IGNORE THE COMMUNITY.
IT PUT THE OBJECTIONS ON THE PUBLIC RECORD BEFORE PROCEEDING.
SHIRE BOSSES | SATIRE. The Community Listening Centre and its attractions are fictional. The Council advisory poll, State Government exhibition and finalised rezoning are separate real events. Rezoning does not constitute development approval.
