The development site between homes opposite Silver Beach. Picture by Murray Trembath

The Land and Environment Court has approved amended plans for a controversial warehouse development between homes opposite Silver Beach, Kurnell.

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A $4.5 million depot for a construction business is planned for the site, zoned industrial, at 108-110 Prince Charles Parade.

The long, narrow site was used for many years to store water cooling pipes for the Caltex refinery.

Original plans (above) and amended plans (below). Picture DA

After the refinery was decommissioned in 2014, the site became surplus to requirements, and was sold.

Residents strongly objected to the development application (DA), which was refused by Sutherland Shire Local Planning Panel in 2025.

An appeal, on the grounds of deemed refusal by the council, was lodged with the Land and Environment Court.

The council subsequently approved amendments to the plans, but remained opposed to development consent on the basis the proposed project was incompatible with the character of the local area and provided an unacceptable bulk and scale with consequential unacceptable visual, streetscape and amenity impacts.

Commissioner Joanne Gray and Acting Commissioner Clare Swan said in their judgment the vacant parcel of land was "zoned for heavy industrial use notwithstanding its location within a predominantly residential area".

The site, which has a frontage of about 18 metres, fans out down the block and is about 44 metres long. Picture DA

The DA provided for the construction of a warehouse building, office space, parking, landscaping and use of a building as a depot.

The judgment said amendments made by the applicant to the DA included a reduction in height through the removal of an upper office floor, a reduction in driveway width, an increase in building articulation/indents and increased setbacks.

"The development application is an appropriate use of the site given its zoning and is of a bulk and scale that is significantly less than what is anticipated on the site by the applicable planning controls," the judgment said.

The site at 108-110 Prince Charles Parade was used for many years to store water cooling pipes for the Caltex refinery operation. Picture by Murray Trembath

"Given the zoning of the site, the residential character that the Council seeks for the site is not attainable.

"The proposed development presents acceptably to the street in its context, and we find that there are no unacceptable impacts on the neighbouring residents."

The judgment imposed a range of conditions including:

• Operational hours limited to Monday to Friday 6am to 6pm, Saturday 7am to 3pm, and closed on Sundays, with a maximum of 15 staff.
• The size of vehicles using the deport restricted to a maximum of 12 per day (six entry and six exit).
  
• Between 6am and 7am, a maximum of three truck movements exiting the site is permitted.
• During morning and afternoon school zone hours, no trucks of any size are permitted to approach the site.