A directions hearing has been set for 10am on that date in the action between the developer, Eden Cattle Bay Marina Pty Ltd, and Bega Valley Shire Council.

BVSC acting director planning and environment Keith Tull said council had received a section 96(2) application from the developer to modify its plans for the marina on July 25 this year.

Mr Tull said the application had sought to modify the method of effluent disposal from that which was originally approved by the Joint Regional Planning Panel in December 2015.

“Due to the modification application being a section 96(2) the application was forwarded to the JRPP for consideration and determination,” he said.

When the modification application failed to be determined within the statutory period, BVSC was served with papers on October 23 advising that the developer had started legal action.

The appeal to the court was based on the premise that there had been a deemed refusal of the application because a decision had not been made within the statutory 60 days.

Eden Cattle Bay Marina spokesman Bob Carter said BVSC had wanted the developer to pay a “large” sum of money to upgrade the sewerage, even though it had been deemed adequate for the former tuna cannery. 

Mr Carter said that instead of paying the sewerage contribution the developer had sought approval to build an on-site sewerage holding tank, which he said were common at many marinas.

“The on-site holding tank would be periodically emptied by a private contractor and the waste deposited into the trade waste sewerage system,” he said.

“Under this scenario there would be no need to increase the capacity of the existing sewerage system and the sewerage contribution would be not required.” 

The sewerage issue is one of a number of matters between the developer and council that are before the court.