As part of that process a community information session was held on Tuesday night, August 16. Another was to be held Wednesday evening.

Head of regional ports Peter Ernst said the consultations will help inform Port Authority's proposal for modifications at the wharf before they were sent to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) as an environmental assessment report late in 2022.

The environmental assessment will go on exhibition early in 2023, at which point community and stakeholders were encouraged to provide formal comments and submissions.

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Proposed modifications to current approvals at the port include:

There were several factors driving the modifications, Mr Ernst explained.

Although under the umbrella of the NSW government, the Port Authority was less a government department and more a business, and expected to be profitable. With more than $50m spent on the wharf, the Port Authority was keen to see the facilities well used.

"It's about what we can achieve with the existing infrastructure," Mr Ernst said.

"Even if we have 60 cruise ships (a year) come in, that's still 305 days when the wharf is not being used for what it's been designed to do," he said in relation to lifting the annual 60 cruise ship maximum.

But he's not suggesting that every day was taken with cruise ships. The Navy was showing increasing interest in the port and its facilities.

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Currently no non-cruise vessel over 100m long can berth at the wharf and special permission had to be sought for the Royal Australian Navy vessel Supply to come alongside for a recent ceremony.

The Navy believed Eden could be used as a place where it could berth overnight or deploy downtime while waiting for a delivery, for example.

But a lot of motivation was around the cruise industry.

"The industry is looking at optimising slightly larger vessels of around 340m and is predicting a return to, at least, pre-COVID numbers," Mr Ernst said.

The industry was also looking at more days at sea between ports, with runs from Brisbane to Eden as a popular starting point.

This could have a major knock-on benefit for the area given that 20 to 40 per cent of passengers were estimated to return to a port they visited for an independent and longer holiday according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

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But increasing numbers and activity doesn't come without challenges, Mr Ernst accepted.

Although he said the community genuinely came up with options to solve problems.

Road and sewerage infrastructure were both issues for the shire and Mr Ernst said consultants will be talking to council.

"There's no doubt investment will need to be made but we're open to understanding these concerns," Mr Ernst said.

Moving large numbers of passengers would pose some challenges, but he said the big increases in numbers would not happen overnight as cruise ships book their itineraries three years ahead.

While the Port Authority was proposing a number of changes, including overnight berthing of cruise ships, it may not get all of its wishes granted depending on the feedback received while the environmental assessment is on exhibition during 2023.

Determination was expected late 2023 by the DPIE.