Shoalhaven Council could be left holding a can over improvements needed at the Bayswood Estate in Vincentia.
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And Shoalhaven Mayor Amanda Findley has laid the blame at the feet of the former State Government.
A council investigation revealed issues with parking and garden maintenance in the housing estate, with council potentially facing high costs to rectify them.
"The Bayswood Estate is actually a classic example of what you get whenever the State Government approves development in your city against your own development standards," Cr Findley said.
It was a past Labor State Government, she said, that "approved this particular banana and sent it back rotten to council, and expected council to pick up the pieces".
"When they send these things back to councils what they don't put into place are any ongoing deeds of agreement around maintenance of the water sensitive pieces of land that are within those estates, and they don't supply any additional parking," Cr Findley said.
The report noted vegetation planted in the estate's median strips was often inappropriate because it limited rivers' visibility, leaving council with a maintenance bill running into tens of thousands of dollars each year.
The report also said there was a lack of off-street parking in the estate, and recommended a survey of residents.
Cr Findley did not want to survey because it would set "an unrealistic expectation that something is going to happen, and in order for something to happen out there it will likely have to come in the form of land buy-backs from already congested streets, because as you can see in new subdivisions there's not much room for gardens, never mind buybacks for parking".
However the council decided to proceed with the survey about parking, "despite the absence of any available budget to design or construct any improvements".
Instead it will investigate grant options from the state and federal governments.
"I don't think it's up to the council to do it off its own back," said Cr John Kotlash.
Cr Patricia White said Bayswood was a "prestige subdivision", but "over time I've watched this subdivision, I suppose, deteriorate".
"It certainly needs some TLC out there, especially with the gardens, because if we're going to put these types of subdivisions in, the reality is we have to look after them as well," she said.
