Sydney marina gets go-ahead

The bitter and long-running fight between Sydney property millionaire Denis O'Neil and a group of anti-boating residents in the silvertail suburbs of Rose Bay and Point Piper has ended in a modest victory for boaters.

O'Neil owns both the Point Piper and Rose Bay marinas and controls dozens of swing moorings in the immediate vicinity. More than five years ago his Addenbrooke company applied to build a combined floating marina on the two sites with 175 berths for vessel up to 30 metres in length.

The plan involved freeing up large areas of the bay by removing many of the swinging moorings but it was immediately opposed by a number of local residents who claimed the marina would block their views of the harbour.

As Sydney residents such as James Packer and Frank Lowy were mentioned as possible marina users, the anti-boating group claimed "a bunch of billionaires" was attempting to take over the harbour.

This week the NSW Land and Environment Court approved a scaled-down version of the original proposial. The changes have reduced the number of berths on the proposed floating marinas to 83 and imposed a height limit of six metres on any vessels berthed there.