Yamba Mulls Plans for 216 Homes in Town’s West

Yamba, the tourist town in New South Wales’ far north with great fishing and even better views, is mulling big changes.

Residents of Clarence Valley Council area, which takes in the town 165km south of the Queensland border, are being asked to consider plans for an $80-million housing estate.

Sydney-registered developers Clifton Lifestyles want to put 216 manufactured homes—self-contained, built offsite and transported to the estate—on two lots totalling 17.7ha in the town’s west.

While the development application will eventually be determined by the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP), Clarence Valley remains the consent authority and has put the plans on public exhibition.

Those plans show the 216 homes to be built and released over 13 stages.

The proposal includes a community building with a lounge, library, cinema, craft and games rooms and a gymnasium. Carparking would be provided for 50 visitors and amenities include a swimming pool, bowling green and croquet lawn.

Catalyze Property Consulting, which lodged documents with the council, said the developers would use about 10ha of the rectangular property at 110-120 Carrs Drive, about 400m from the Oyster Channel waterway.

▲ Known as California Dreamin’, this is one of the manufactured homes proposed for the housing estate.

While historically used for cattle grazing, the property had become overgrown, Catalyze wrote. The proposed development would need to remove 8.3ha of native vegetation, mainly regrowth swamp forest and some remaining paddock trees.

Documents before the council show the proposal sits on the West Yamba floodplain and will need bulk earthworks of 1.8m to 3.1m to fill the site to achieve the 1-in-100-year average flood immunity.

Clifton Lifestyle is described as a specialist developer, owner and operator of active lifestyle resorts for over 55s. Formerly known as Zenprop Australia, it is jointly run by South-African-born managing directors Richard Volpe and Kenny Phillips.

Trading as Clifton Yamba Land Pty Ltd, the developers acquired the two adjoining lots in 2021. They paid $5.3 million in July for the 16.2 ha at 120 Carrs Drive and picked up the 1.5 ha at 110 Carrs Drive for $1.7 million three months later.

Real estate agents at the time described the 16.2ha block as prime real estate as “the last of the potential residential development areas left in Yamba”, which could be developed under the Clarence Valley Council’s 2010 local environmental plan.

Public submissions on the development proposal close on April 15.