In November 2025, the NSW Government released its Regionally Significant Employment Precinct Profile. The purpose of this document is to provide a regionally significant employment precinct profile for the South Nowra employment lands in line with Objective 4 and Action 3 of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Plan 2041.
The Purpose of the South Nowra Regionally Significant Employment Precinct Profile
The South Nowra Employment Precinct is identified in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Plan 2041 as a regionally significant employment area, with the capacity to support major economic and employment growth for the broader Illawarra–Shoalhaven region. The Regionally Significant Employment Precinct Profile has been prepared in direct response to Objective 4, which seeks to activate regionally significant employment precincts to support new and innovative enterprises, and Action 3, which requires the development of precinct profiles and, where necessary, the establishment of coordinated governance structures to activate employment lands.
A Technical Framework for Strategic Employment Land
The purpose of the profile is to deliver a detailed and coordinated analysis of the precinct’s planning, economic and employment context. It assesses the existing Flinders Estate and adjoining E4 General Industrial zoned land, recognising its strategic proximity to HMAS Albatross, the Aviation Technology Park, HMAS Creswell in Jervis Bay, the Nowra City Centre, the Shellharbour–Wollongong corridor, and larger Sydney and Canberra markets. The precinct’s location within a regional transport network—including the Princes Highway, Main Road 92, the future Nowra Bypass corridor and access to the Port of Port Kembla—reinforces its importance as a logistics, manufacturing, and defence-support hub.
The profile outlines the precinct’s current strengths in manufacturing, construction, postal, transport and warehousing sectors, and identifies its strong potential to support emerging high-value industries such as electronics, information technology, aviation and defence supply chains, logistics, and nutra-pharmaceuticals. It recognises that the activation of both developed and undeveloped employment-zoned land, including significant areas of E4 land, could generate substantial increases in regional employment and economic output.
Addressing Constraints Through Integrated Planning
A core purpose of the profile is to identify and articulate key constraints that currently limit development potential. These include biodiversity impacts—particularly associated with the presence of Illawarra Lowland Grassy Woodland—along with fragmented land ownership and the need for upgraded servicing and infrastructure. Rather than listing constraints in isolation, the profile provides a strategic explanation of how these issues intersect with land use planning, infrastructure delivery, and environmental management.
The recommended options for addressing challenges are framed around coordinated planning and biodiversity assessment, infrastructure and servicing integration, transport and access improvements, and industry attraction. For example, the profile identifies the need to investigate mechanisms under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, including both standard and strategic biodiversity certification pathways, to resolve biodiversity constraints and provide planning certainty. It further recommends the preparation of a precinct-wide staging and infrastructure servicing strategy, supported by a concept plan, to guide future land use sequencing, infrastructure delivery, and development feasibility. Opportunities to leverage existing and proposed transport projects are also discussed, supported by an emphasis on improving freight, active transport, and public transport connectivity. Industry collaboration is encouraged through strengthened engagement with existing business groups and the formation of new networks to better understand industry requirements and attract targeted investment, with a particular emphasis on defence-related sectors.
A Governance Model for Coordinated Activation
One of the key technical purposes of the profile is to outline the governance structures required to coordinate planning, land use, biodiversity, servicing, and infrastructure considerations. To achieve this, the profile recommends establishing a dedicated working group comprising representatives from the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Shoalhaven City Council, Transport for NSW, the Nowra Local Aboriginal Land Council, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Additional members from other agencies may be involved as required.
This working group would play a central role in managing the relationships between transport planning, biodiversity assessment, and land use planning—particularly given the potential implications of the Nowra Bypass and associated network connections. It would also provide guidance on landowner engagement and deliver structured opportunities for the Nowra LALC and broader First Nations community to participate meaningfully in planning discussions relevant to land within and surrounding the precinct.
Positioning the Precinct for Long-Term Economic Activation
The overarching purpose of the South Nowra Employment Precinct Profile is to ensure the precinct is investment-ready, strategically aligned and supported by coordinated planning pathways. It synthesises planning controls, infrastructure requirements, environmental constraints, and industry needs to create a framework that supports activation, simplifies planning processes where appropriate, and ensures that employment lands are protected and optimised for long-term economic benefit.
Ultimately, the profile serves as a technical foundation for collaborative decision-making, enabling government agencies, industry stakeholders, and landowners to work together to unlock South Nowra’s full economic and employment potential. Through its integrated approach, the profile positions the precinct to accommodate catalytic investment, support next-generation industries and contribute significant long-term value to the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region.
