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THERE was an air of frustration at the public meeting on the proposed changes to the Trinity Point marina on Monday, and it's clear the issue still divides the community.
The Planning Assessment Commission meeting at Bonnells Bay gave residents a chance to have a say on planned changes to the project's concept plan, which the NSW government approved five years ago.
The meeting focused on only the waterside modifications.
These include amending the marina layout and design, modifying the staging of the marina from two to five stages, removing the 20-metre boat size limit, removing public access along the breakwater and replacing it with public access adjacent to the foreshore.
While many people in the community are still unhappy about the marina as a whole, most acknowledged the current proposal is an improvement - particularly the use of a floating breakwater and excluding public access from the marina arms/breakwater for safety reasons.
Bonnells Bay Progress Association president Col Roach said the upgraded marina does leave a "marginally smaller" footprint to the previous design.
However many locals opposed plans for removing the 20-metre boat size limit, changing the marina's size and constructing it in five stages, rather than two.
Morisset Park and District Action Group president Tom Dumbrell said the marina takes a "great deal away from the community, while not providing any significant infrastructure of value to the community in return".
He said a new boat ramp with a car park should be included in the development as a small compensation to the community.
Member for Lake Macquarie Greg Piper said while he believed the marina should have been smaller, if the development is to go ahead it's important it have the best opportunity to be viable.
Mr Piper said the modifications will reduce environmental impacts, and some of the visual impact for some homes.
"I've seen and supported the revised plans in terms of its footprint. It is an improvement," he said.
Mr Piper said his support for the water-based variations could not be assumed to extend to the land component of the development. A meeting about the land-based modifications will be held towards the end of the year.