TWEED Shire Council should buy back the land from developers keen on building a new subdivision at Creek St in Hastings Point, according to a leading marine scientist in the area.

Ted Brambleby, an ecologist and educator who introduced the first field studies of the Hastings Point marine region some 45 years ago, said a proposal currently before the NSW Land and Environment Court was totally inappropriate for the area.

The development application on Lot 156 Creek St is currently before the LEC after developer Walter Elliot Holdings Pty Ltd appealed a decision by Council to reject its proposal to establish 16 residential blocks on the property bounded by Cudgera and Christies creeks and the Cudgen Nature Reserve.

Development of the lot has been opposed by residents for more than 30 years, who claim its position is unsuitable due to its impact on the surrounding environment and its likelihood to flood.

Mr Brambleby, who heads the Marine Environments Field Study Resource Centre at North Star caravan park at Hastings Point which hosts more than 80 school groups a year, said council should step in and put an end to the saga.

"This is a key site; it's very fragile and of particular significance for the future health and ecological integrity of the area,” Mr Brambleby said.

"The developer is appealing for pure profit to get more people there; the economic paradigm has over-ridden the ecological reality.

"My ideal is for the lot to retain its ecological function and not to be built on at all. Council should buy it back, own it and not convert it into any convenience for humans.”

Mr Brambleby said the Hastings Point estuary was incredibly fragile and should not be further disturbed.

"This is probably the most biodiversically rich area on the East Coast because of the nature of its rocks,” he said. "It is home to more species from the surrounding region than anywhere else because of its rock substrate.”

Dozens of residents attended an on-site hearing of the LEC recently to air their concerns about the proposed development with the hearing due to continue in Sydney this week.