A Bundeena homeowner has had plans for a waterfront staircase knocked back by Council.

The property which is located at 33 Crammond Ave backs onto Cabbage Tree Point. The planned staircase was to be constructed on the owners property up to the highwater mark as is normally permissible. However, at the July Council meeting Councilors voted 9 to 3 to back the independent assessment to deny approval for the proposed staircase. Local resident and Councilor Bob Spencer who voted in favour of the staircase was able to motion a recission for a re-vote at the following Council meeting but that vote also denied approval.

The Council assessors had denied approval primarily due to the existing heritage listing on Cabbage Tree Point. The heritage listing had been motioned during the nineties by the Bundeena Progress Association but had not been officially gazetted by Council until the 2006 DCP well after the 2001 DCP. In the interim the owner Michael Ryan had purchased the property in 2000. For financial reasons he was not able to put forward a development application until 2006 just before the new DCP came out.

Ryan is further frustrated that since purchasing the property in 2000 he as well as his neighbours on Cabbage Tree Point were never notified by Council about the planned heritage listing. Ryan raised his concerns with Bundeena Progress Association who support his planned staircase and stated that they had never intended for the heritage listing to impact what homeowners could do with their own private properties.