Sutherland Shire Council will proceed with a Planning Proposal to have mooring pens allowed in the W1 zone. Picture supplied

Sutherland Shire Council voted on Tuesday night not to proceed with the proposed rezoning of foreshore land following a community backlash.

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However, the council will proceed with a revised Planning Proposal to include boat mooring pens as a permitted use in the W1 (Natural Waterways) zone, where they are not allowed at present.

Prior to finalising the amended Planning Proposal, council officers will liaise with the NSW planning department on "the most appropriate mechanism to address environmental risks."

Cr Carmelo Pesce moved the successful motion, passed by a vote of 8-6 after a debate in which Cr Mick Maroney, who opposed the move, described mooring pens as "private parking lots for boats".

The adopted resolution was a second option proposed by the consultant who coordinated the campaign by waterfront owners if rezoning was not supported by the council.

Mayor Jack Boyd voted against the motion, but said the change would be "severely restricted in scope" compared with the "far more drastic" rezoning proposal.

Cr Pesce, who initiated the rezoning move on council, said the community had made it clear they did not want shire waterways commercialised, foreshore development intensified or the the environmental function and character of W1 Natural Waterways undermined.

"If you remove the rezoning, you remove the pathway to almost all of the impacts the community is concerned about," he said.

"What remains is a very different proposition.

"A mooring pen is a water-based structure with four poles that fish feed from. It does not require:

"It does not require buildings, clearing of foreshore vegetation, hardstand areas, service infrastructure and does not involve commercial activity."

Cr Pesce said, since January 1, 2021, the council had approved 18 mooring pen applications in the W2 zone, refused five and seven were withdrawn or cancelled

"That tells us something important: applications are not rubber stamped, they are assessed on merit, they are refused where impacts are unacceptable and proponents walk away where issues cannot be resolved."

Cr Pesce said said strong controls were in place under the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP).

"If a proposal impacts sensitive areas, council can impose conditions, require redesign, relocate the structure or or refuse the application outright."

Cr Pesce said, 14 NSW coastal councils permitted mooring pens with consent within W1 Natural Waterways zones.

They included Northern Beaches Council, Wollongong City Council, Shoalhaven City Council, Eurobodalla Shire Council, Lake Macquarie City Council and Port Stephens Council

Cr Mick Maroney spoke strongly against the motion, describing it as "a Trojan Horse".

Mooring pens in the W1 zone would cause permanent environmental damage and were "a fundamental contradiction" of the protection that the zoning afforded.

"You cannot protect a natural waterway while simultaneously driving a pile into the seabed to create private parking lots for boats," he said.

Cr Maroney said mooring pens would create permanent shade that would affect seagrass.

The installation of pylons would stir up legacy contaminants, which would destroy the habitat of marine life in what was supposed to be a marine sanctuary.

Cr Maroney said "one mooring pen is a scar, 50 is an ecological disaster".

"This amendment is a blanket invitation for development in our most vulnerable waters.

"This amendment throws that process out the window and attempts to bypass the rezoning process by redefining what is allowed in a protected zone.

"This is a shortcut that ignores the Department of Planning's own guidelines and sets council up for a significant backlash from the broader community.

"This community values our Port Hacking and Georges River foreshores for their natural beauty, not their utility as private aqua car parks.

"This amendment is a retreat from our responsibilities. It prioritises private vessel storage over the public's interest in a healthy, biodiverse waterway.

"We must keep W1 zones exactly as they are - natural."

Cr Diedree Steinwall said there were numerous councils which did not allow mooring pens in the W1 zone. They included Nambucca, Port Macquarie and Shellharbour.

Cr Steinwall questioned the need to compare with other councils.

"Let's stand by ourselves... let's look at what is suitable for our beautiful area," she said