Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald is thrilled he has received a commitment from Opposition Leader Mark Speakman to tear up the covenant on land at Spring Creek which could provide a financial windfall for Council.

But he would be over the moon if NSW Premier Chris Minns signed off on Council’s request to unlock the parcel of land to the west of Bombo cemetery.

Speakman and the Liberal Party’s Kiama by-election candidate Serena Copley met Cr McDonald and Council CEO Jane Stroud in Kiama on Monday to call on the NSW Government to remove the antiquated covenant which was established in 1993 to prevent housing too close to the working quarry.

Council owns the approximately nine hectares of residential zoned land, which equates to around 100 parcels which could be worth about $90 million to Council.

McDonald said it would be up to the community, through Council, to decide what sort of mix they want between employment land, residential land and facilities like sports grounds.

“It is an outdated covenant that could be removed with the stroke of a pen … to unlock the financial security of Kiama Council,” he said.

“It is a financial game-changer for the predicament that Kiama Council is in. It will enable long-term financial stability for the Council.”

The restriction was put in place more than 30 years ago so to minimise noise complaints if residents moved into the area.

“If you drive out there today, you can look up the hill and there are houses far, far closer to Bombo Quarry,” Stroud said.

“And the last time we had a noise complaint from Bombo Quarry is over five years ago.”

Speakman was bullish in his demand for the Premier to rip off the red tape, citing a former US President’s famous speech in sending a message to Minns.

“Ronald Reagan famously stood outside the Berlin Wall and said, ‘Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall’. I'm standing here at Kiama today saying ‘Chris Minns, tear up this covenant’,” he said.

“It's got the unanimous support of Kiama Council, it would mean that Kiama Council would be sustainable for the long term.

“It would free up tens of millions of dollars in money for vital infrastructure in the Kiama area. There is no need for this restrictive covenant to continue, but at the moment, it's preventing urban development on the Spring Creek land that the Council owns.

“It's a no-brainer to tear up this covenant.”

Speakman said Kiama was one of the most expensive regional locations for real estate in NSW so if the Government freed up this land for residential development, it would curb property prices from soaring and help Council avoid future rate rises.

Copley added: “As has been the case multiple times across NSW, the only thing standing in the way of progress in our state is the Minns Labor Government.”

When asked why the previous Coalition Government had not removed the covenant, Speakman did not provide an answer other than to say he was backing Council “100% on this” latest request.

“If elected in 2027 and it hasn't been removed in the meantime, we will remove it, but this should be removed now.”

Cr McDonald earlier met Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison and Labor by-election candidate Katelin McInerney on Monday morning to discuss items on Council’s advocacy list, including the request to lift the Spring Creek Land Covenant.

“We understand the challenge to Council around housing and their financial sustainability and that is why we have recently worked with Council to release five lots of council-owned land in this area, and we will continue to work with them on this,” McInerney said in reference to the recent decision to lift a similar covenant at Glenbrook Drive.

“We know future housing in the Kiama LGA needs to be sensibly delivered in a responsible way - and look to areas like Bombo Quarry where there is an opportunity to support future housing.

“Positively, the state’s Transport Asset Manager and Transport for NSW are working collaboratively with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Kiama Municipal Council and the adjoining landowner, Boral, to develop a vision that best supports the community and growth of Kiama into the future.”

Cr McDonald said he was not endorsing the Liberal Party candidate for the 13 September poll but he was open in saying that it was his job during this by-election campaign “to put the needs and the wants of the community first”.

“We've developed an advocacy list that was endorsed at the last Council meeting and what we do is we advocate for our local community to get a range of services and a range of issues, a range of items addressed by all the candidates in this by-election,” he said.

“We've sent out that advocacy list to all candidates. The door of Council is always open to speak to all those candidates about what those local issues are for our community.

“We're looking for statements or commitments from the current government as well as the other candidates to make sure that those commitments are put forward to our local community in this election, so that our community can understand what's being offered to them to address the issues that we have locally.”

When asked what it felt like for Kiama to be inundated with state politicians making all sorts of promises, he said: “I think it's a function of our election, but I think it's certainly a reflection that potentially we have not been in the government mind as much as we could have over the last few years.

“We've lacked that representation in the State Government for the last number of years, and so it's really refreshing for the people of Kiama to regain that representation in the State Government.”