A steel fabrication business wants to set up shop in Somersby.
The property, at 7 Ainslie Close, includes Whale Rock, an area registered as an Aboriginal Ceremony and Dreaming site.
The business is seeking Council approval to erect a new industrial building with overall dimensions of 30m X 12m and a maximum height of 8.06m, including a mezzanine level in one corner.
Access to the building would primarily be via three roller doors facing a car parking area. Earthworks, retaining walls and some tree removals are proposed.
The business would operate five and half days a week employing 5-6 staff, the report to Council said.
The site is within the Somersby Industrial Estate.
A previous development application for a factory building and associated works was refused by what would have been the former Gosford council in March 2011 primarily due to its potential impact on Whale Rock.
“The reasons for that refusal have been addressed in the current design for the development on the property,” the report to Council states.
An aboriginal cultural consultation report listed five recommendations to protect the site which has cultural significance; and high archaeological significance on a local level.
“It also has high education potential, demonstrating the cultural beliefs and practices of Aboriginal people in the local area,” the report said.
It is proposed the site will be fenced off from the development and will be conserved with the vegetation retained to be a physical and visual buffer from the steel works.
The report said the Registered Aboriginal Parties are in support of the proposal and the measures to protect it as well as the access agreement to the site by Aboriginal parties.
Under the heading, Regional Archaeological Background, the report states that “Aboriginal occupation in the Central Coast region area has been dated to 11,000 years before present which precedes the rise of sea levels around 6,000 years before present” according to research by Val Attenbrow whose book on The Archaeology of
Upper Mangrove Creek, Sydney Basin was published in 2006 by the Australian National University Press in Canberra.
“This date comes from a rock shelter site in Mangrove Creek, 20 km north-west of Gosford. Due to the limitations in dating techniques, this figure may be even older,” the report states.
“Evidence of Aboriginal occupation in the Central Coast is found throughout the region. Within the boundary of the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council there are 2,985 registered Aboriginal sites (Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council 2020).”
The proposal is open for public comment and written submissions close on November 25.
Go to Council’s DA tracker and put in the address to find details.
