At this stage, a report will not be brought back to council due to the rescission motion carried with a unanimous vote from councillors at the ordinary meeting on Tuesday, April 16.

Thus, the previous resolution of council from the March meeting in relation to the investigation by council into creating a ring road through the Crescent Head Golf Course Crown Land area no longer stands, and the original recommendation from council was approved.

The recommendation's main purpose, which has now been accepted by all councillors, is to push forward with signing a 21-year renewal of the lease of the golf course land to continue to be managed by Crescent Head Country Club (CHCC).

General Manager, Craig Milburn, says there is a "clear commitment" from the staff and the councillors that Kempsey Shire Council enter into a 21-year lease with the CHCC with a 6-hole PGA-rated golf course.

"That is very, very clear, and could not be disputed, even though people have put out misleading information to the community to the contrary," he said.

"The council voted [in March] for a report to come back that presented the pros and cons of a link road, and if it could co-exist with a PGA-rated golf course.

"So for council, it was either a golf course, or a golf course and a road, it was never a road and no golf course. That was very, very clear."

Mr Milburn says the signing of the lease will "take a number of months" and will be finalised "ideally" by the end of the year (2024).

Mr Milburn also noted at the council meeting that whether or not a report of the pros and cons of a ring road was to be completed, including an investigation into whether a road could co-exist with the golf course keeping the PGA-rating, the process of the report would not have affected the timeline of the lease being finalised.

If the ring road report was to be created, Mr Milburn expected it would have taken between 10 and 30 hours of in-house staff time, and would have been brought back to the council meeting in May.

However, despite the fast-track, Mayor Leo Hauville said this would not be at "no-cost", with staff being taken away from other important projects.

Councillor Alexander Wyatt said the community consultation had already been done, and whether or not a road was feasible, the community has spoken out against it and made it clear they do not want a road.

Councillor Anthony Patterson said it was simply a report, "with no shovels in the ground" to look at the area holistically and plan for the future in regard to traffic, growth of population and lack of car parks.

While Councillor Ferguson saw merit in the potential ring road due to increase of traffic congestion in the future, he said it was clear the community don't want a new road at this current time and that this input and public feedback needs to be taken on board.

"I'm often surprised at the small numbers that respond with submissions that we accept as feedback...and here we have a very loud percentage speaking up about an area they're very passionate about," Cr Ferguson said.

"Regardless of what a report would say and even if we can retain the PGA-rating, the community is saying please don't put a road on that green space."

Council continues to acknowledge the strong community support for the 21-year renewal of the Crescent Head Country Club (CHCC) Golf Course lease on fair and reasonable terms, with over 1200 submissions of support received through the exhibition of the draft Council managed Crown Land Plan of Management.

Council will now continue with the direct negotiation with Crescent Head Country Club on a 21-year lease, in accordance with the terms of the Crown Land lease guidance and lease template, at an independently valued market rent.

Once input from the CHCC is received and the discussion between council and the club is finalised, council will appoint an independent valuer as the expert in the field to undertake the valuation of the land.

Once the valuation is finalised, a survey of the boundaries will be undertaken, to be included in the lease.

Council will finalise the general lease documents, ensure the Crown Lands Plan of Management is signed off by Crown Lands, at which point council can sign the lease.

"Hopefully, we can get it done by the end of the year," Mr Milburn said. "But that really does depend on some of those timelines."