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Development director Lindsay Usher told councillors recommendations from the workshop would be incorporated into a report that staff expected to present to this month’s council meeting.

The adopted revised draft would then go to the State Planning Department for certification prior to another six weeks of public exhibition. It would then be up to the department to approve the LEP, but he didn’t know when that would happen. It seemed staff hoped for it to take weeks, rather than months.

Mr Usher said that more public information sessions would be incorporated into the process.

As the meeting was a workshop, councillors could not make any hard and fast decisions, but there were some recommendations. One was to scrap the proposed 11.5 metre height limit in parts of Tuross. Staff said there had been close to 90 written responses from the public, mostly from people expressing concern at the effect three-storey buildings would have on the village character of the area.

Councillors recommended that a height limit of 8.5 metres should be “locked in”.

Staff took councillors through the revised LEP by 26 maps on an overhead display.

Officers said that 1075 issues had been addressed as a result of public submissions with the majority resolved positively. Particular concerns had been expressed about proposals at Tuross Lake, on habitat corridors, wetlands and riparian land. Other matters discussed with community members included Moruya town centre, Moruya flooding controls and the subdivision of rural land.

A vast amount of work had been involved, councillors were told. During the review staff had spoken to several groups of people. They were mostly happy with the results, and some had significant wins.