PLANNING AMENDMENT C286 - Ocean Beach Road Built Form Review 

The Minister for Planning approved the amendment and it was gazetted on 23 January 2026.The amendment aims to ensure that appropriate and permanent mandatory design controls apply in the Sorrento commercial precinct to ensure future development protects and respects the low-scale, coastal and historical character of the area whilst allowing for reasonable growth to occur in line with the township’s broader role and function.

The amendment introduces Development Design Overlay (DDO) 28 which specifies: 

• a maximum of three storey (nine metre) wall height facing Ocean Beach Road with a set back of four metres on the third storey. 
• the East sub-precinct (Rusty's Corner) is limited to two storey (eight metre) wall height to balance with the wall height of the former Koonya Hotel and surrounding domestic buildings. 
• the building height in Morce Avenue is limited to three storey with no building roof line to be any higher than any roof line of a building facing Ocean Beach Road
• buildings adjacent to any historiacal building must be set back to match the setback of that historical adjoining building.
• height limits in side streets are two storey (9 metres).

The NRA has been working with MPS and other organisations for several years to get this amendment finalised.  We are hopeful that this will finally provide some protection from inapproapriate development for the Sorrento commercial precinct.