So said president of Broulee Mossy Point Community Association Andrew Bain in an address to Eurobodalla Shire Council councillors at the public access session on March 1.

He wants thoughtful, effective design to be at the forefront of the construction process.

"Of course we are going to have developments, but why can't we have really good ones?" he said.

He proposed to develop a set of criteria similar to the NSW Government's draft State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) prioritising environmental, cultural and lifestyle factors within decision making surrounding new-developments.

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Mr Bain wants the council and community to together establish a set of principles that any land development in the Eurobodalla must adhere to.

In the face of what Mr Bain called "considerable criticism from the community about land development in the Eurobodalla" (three of the four items on the agenda at the public access session were regarding land development complaints), Mr Bain hopes a set of criteria would lead to less tension in the future, and "give both residents and developers more certainty and lead to more responsible development".

Mr Bain suggested some factors to consider for the criteria: design layouts maximising passive heating and cooling, minimising the consumption of non-renewable energy and design layouts supporting the health and wellbeing of the community.

PdD Building Design is an architecture firm based on the south coast and specialising in designing liveable, low-energy homes. Company director Paul Dolphin said the legislative framework was already in place to create a more sustainable Eurobodalla, but just needed to be updated.

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"The planning law as it stands is there to protect us and work for us," he said. "The laws aren't working but the framework is there. We need to revise the framework."

Mr Dolphin said this started with upgrading development control plans (DCP). DCP's are guidelines developed by a council for the purpose of regulating development and land use within the shire.

"Upgrading DCP's is the best way the council could improve our local environment," Mr Dolphin said. "The DCP's need to respond to our needs today."

Mr Dolphin's plan to upgrade DCP's is very similar to that proposed by Mr Bain.

"The council should improve the DCP's in consultation with sustainable designers, sustainable developers and interested stakeholders," Mr Dolphin said.

"What the council needs to do is say 'we are going to change our planning rules, where we can, to promote sustainability, and we are open to business as as sustainable shire' and prioritise the rules to sustainable outcomes."

One suggestion Mr Dolphin had was ensuring every new sub-division plot in the shire had adequate capacity for solar power.

In the midst of an affordable housing crisis, Mr Dolphin said sustainable houses were not more expensive than ordinary houses.

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"It doesn't cost more," he said. "It is just a case of putting windows in the right place and some shading."

He said moving windows to the right locations within a house could reduce the household energy bill by 80 per cent.

Updating the DCP's is "absolutely possible - 100 per cent - and something I would like to see happen in my term," according to councillor Amber Schutz.

"It costs money... but it is something I believe is vitally important moving forward."

The Eurobodalla Shire Council's DCP's have not been updated in more than 10 years.

"I believe the DCP's do need to be updated, including better environmental practices and best practice measures such as water reuse," Cr Schutz said.

"I think it would be great to see our council taking a leading role in this area."

Cr Schutz is an architect by trade, and has experience designing to adhere to DCPs.

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She said introducing a new set of criteria such as suggested by Mr Bain, in addition to DCP's, would create confusion for developers and designers, especially in situations where one document was updated in contradiction to another.

"It is important to make everything easily accessible in one space through minimum documents - it results in better document control," she said.

She was encouraged by the members of the community taking an interest in the future of the shire and facilitating these conversations.