Rezoning about 3.9 hectares of Birdon Marine-owned land on the western side of the Pacific Highway was the first part of the process.

That happened at Wednesday night's Port Macquarie-Hastings Council meeting.

The rezoning will permit an expansion of marine-related industry adjoining the existing Birdon operations.

The plan is not only for Birdon to grow but also for the area to develop into a marine industry cluster.

Birdon managing director Terri Benson spoke in favour of the rezoning proposal for land bounded by the Pacific Highway, Hastings River, Dennis Bridge and Glen Ewan Road.

"This is an exciting opportunity for the Hastings - growing the local economy, and enabling the ongoing development of marine-related industry in the region," Ms Benson said.

"We are in a unique position with Birdon being one of the only operating slipways, providing in-house ship building capability on the east coast of Australia, but potentially constrained by not being able to extend our facilities to include the western side of the bridge."

Ms Benson said key points in support of the rezoning included the nature of the existing site, the ability to extend on the existing operations and the potential economic growth for the region.

Council's development and environment services director Matt Rogers said the rezoning would expand the area's industrial offering and serve as a point of difference for the area.

"The opportunity for a marine industry cluster in the area provides an opportunity which could potentially create jobs, contribute to the area's economic growth and drive future innovation," he said.

Glen Ewan Road resident Robert Gilligan raised concerns about flooding and noise impacts.

Cr Lisa Intemann said she understood there were concerns however she was confident the relevant studies had been done, and noise and flooding had been adequately studied, and in neither case had been significant.

Cr Rob Turner said he thought the concerns had been dealt with and issues that might arise in the future could be dealt with as well.

"The fact we have the opportunity to zone some land for a new marine industry cluster is a massive bonus for our area in terms of economic development and future employment," Cr Turner said.

Cr Trevor Sargeant said the proposal provided an opportunity for a level of specialisation and a level of clustering which he trusted would deliver further innovation in our economy.