A statement of intent has been lodged with Planning Minister Paul Holloway to rezone land in sections 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 185, 186, 187, 188 and 189 mostly to Tourist Accommodation (Coastal), Coastal and Rural (8).

Such a rezoning would allow the 10 owners of the 1000-hectare area be able to divide their land into much smaller blocks.

Council development assessment manager Robert Fox said it could take two months to find out if the Minister approves the statement of intent.

“If he says no, it’s a dead duck, it doesn’t go any further,” Mr Fox said.

“If he says yes it could be 10 to 12 months.”

From there the changes would then go to extensive consultation with the public and organisations through submissions and public meetings.

Then more changes to the proposal could occur before it is submitted to the Minister again.

It would then be endorsed and approved, and more changes can be made at this stage.

Mr Fox said the proposal could “change primary industry land, which is farming, to rural land, which you can live on”.

“Then again some of that land will go into the coast zone and that will increase the coast zone, it will actually double it,” he added.

He said the current coast zone ended at the road that goes around the cape, but under the proposal it would extend to both sides of the road.

Friends of Sceale Bay local convenor Bob Minnican said the area could be divided into 300 allotments.

“This council is out of control, they have no understanding of the environment which they are custodians off, these remote headlands are of state significance there are many species that use this area … The area is important raptor habitat that needs protection,” Mr Minnican said.

“It’s not some degraded industrial area that DCSB can carve up for a few bucks, it’s home to endangered species.”