Sought-after mooring pens are currently not permitted in the W1 zone. Picture supplied

Battlelines are drawn as Sutherland Shire Council prepares to decide whether to make a second attempt to rezone waterfront land.

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Opposing the change are nine local environmental, conservation and community groups, along with respected individuals, who have written an Open Letter to councillors calling for the Planning Proposal to be withdrawn.

Two of the groups, BirdLife Southern NSW and Sutherland Shire Environment Centre, said in a joint statement the proposal "places the interests of a few wealthy property owners and commercial operators over the survival of critically endangered shorebirds".

Far Eastern Curlews on Deeban Spit. Picture supplied / Birdlife Southern NSW

Supporting the change are more than 200 waterfront owners, who have sent letters of support in a campaign conducted during the last year by marine structures consultancy Harbour Planning, headed by Craig Turner, who claims present zonings are inequitable.

"Waterfront home owners are not all silvertails, and have the same rights as every ratepayer, and they are not exempt from the rigorous controls Sutherland Shire Council endorses," he said.

The council is due to decide at the April 28 meeting whether to submit an amended Planning Proposal to the NSW Planning Department for Gateway determination after the first version was knocked back.

The original proposal sought to rezone all waterways currently zoned as W1 Natural Waterways to W2 Recreational Waterways, where they are immediately adjacent to residential property. Some sensitive environmental areas would be excluded.

The change would allow boat mooring pens, marinas, charter and tourism boating facilities, and kiosks in properties now zoned W1.

'Waterfront home owners are not all silvertails': The case for rezoning

The coalition of groups who wrote the Open Letter to councillors include Sutherland Shire Environment Centre, BirdLife Southern NSW, Southern Sydney Branch of National Parks Association of NSW, ShireCAN, C Care, Cronulla Dunes and Wetlands Protection Alliance, Bundeena Progress Association, North Cronulla Precinct Committee and Woronora River Community Association.

George Cotis OAM, 2022 Sutherland Shire Environmental Citizen Julie Keating and 2024 Young Citizen Jensen Wade are other signatories.

A council report prepared ahead of the first rezoning attempt said, "The primary distinction between the W1 and W2 zones relates to the permissibility of permanent mooring pens supported by piles, as well as marinas, charter and tourism boating facilities, and kiosks".

"These uses have a higher potential to affect ecological values and local character."

Mr Turner said "amalgamating" the W1 and W2 zones would not diminish the scrutiny of potential impacts when applications for structures were lodged.

Mr Turner said every application would still be assessed on its merits, and Sutherland Shire Council was the strictest among all the councils he had worked with along the NSW coast.

Most applications would be for mooring pens, which allow a boat to be located alongside a home owner's jetty, rather than on a swing mooring, which was more environmentally damaging, he said.

Mr Turner said he "responded to a strong groundswell of support" in co-ordinating the campaign seeking the change.

"We believe that many properties in the W1 zone are disadvantaged by inappropriate zoning," he said.

In a letter to the council, Mr Turner said Georges River Council introduced a similar rezoning change in 2021, which had not resulted in a significant increase in DA Submissions, and applications continued to be assessed on their merits.

"This improved change demonstrates that rezoning does not automatically lead to excessive development, but rather provides a more equitable framework for assessment," he said.

Mr Turner said his firm lodged up to 200 development applications annually with various councils along the NSW east coast, and Sutherland Shire was the only one among them that prohibited the construction of mooring pens in the W1 zone.

"This indicates that the current situation is an anomaly," he said.

Mr Turner said applications for mooring pens would still be subject to a rigorous assessment process by three State authorities - Transport for NSW (Maritime) for navigation, NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) for marine ecology, and Crown Lands.

Mr Turner proposed two potential pathways - amending existing W1 zoning to allow mooring pens, or rezoning W1 land to W2.

Sutherland Shire Environment Centre spokesman Cooper Riach said, "We demand that the council listens to its community through this coalition of organisations dedicated to our local environment and a people and planet-positive future".

Southern Sydney Branch of National Parks Association of NSW, urged the council to "protect the many natural values of Port Hacking by rejecting poorly-considered aims of compromising its status as a near-natural waterway".

Port Hacking had been classified as a high quality estuary due to it bordering a national park, the association said.

Impacts could include shadowing of endangered sea grass, damage to sea grass from boat propellors, increased chance of oil pollution and anti-fouling chemicals and less public access to the waterfront.