This blog is open to any who wish to comment on Australian society, the state of the environment or political shenanigans at Federal, State and Local Government level.
It
doesn’t take long when discussing life on the ground during low
rain periods along the Clarence River for the conversation to
turn to Coffs Harbour City’s historical rapacious attitude when it
comes to accessing Clarence River catchment water.
In 2023 we may be muttering about Coffs Harbour 'greed' again as Winterapproaches and the
Bureau of Meteorology May 2023 ENSO
Outlook remains at El
Niño WATCH - Braylesford and Newbold in the Clarence Valley are already listed as "Drought Affected" parishes on NSW Dept. of Primary Industries' Combined Drought Indicator mapping.
Now
it seems Coffs Harbour wishes to also gain a foothold within Clarence
Valley landfill sites - as yet another lazy option to its long-term problems.
Coffs Harbour City 'red bin' solid garbage IMAGE: ABC News, 10 May 2021
It appears that Coffs Harbour City Council sitting on a local landfill problem for at least two decades, has run through the goodwill of Nambucca, Bellingen & Tamworth and, finding the current landfill charges in south-east Queensland no longer to its liking, has decided that the Clarence Valley is the next best place to dump its unprocessed garbage.
City
of Coffs Harbour is to ask the neighbouring councils of Clarence
Valley and Nambucca Valley to allow access to their landfill sites
for the City’s red bin waste for the next 4 years.
The
City has processed the yellow and green bin waste for Bellingen and
Nambucca Shires since 2007 and will continue to do so until the end
of the current waste contract in 2027.
“Our
neighbouring local government areas all have landfill sites that can
accommodate residual red bin waste for decades to come,” said
Andrew Beswick, the City’s Director Sustainable Infrastructure.
“In
the meantime, our own waste facility is near capacity and we are
having red bin waste trucked 3 times per day, 6 days per week to
Queensland.
“The
City would therefore welcome neighbourly assistance with accepting up
to 15,000 tonnes each of the City’s residual red bin waste for the
4-year period ending June 2027. The City is offering payment for this
service.
“We’re
all interested in discussions over a regional plan for waste
management after 2027, but the City’s immediate issue is the
disposal of its red bin residual waste for the next 4 years.”…...
Aerial view of a section of Yamba township precinct during flooding in 2022. IMAGE: Clarence Valley Independent
On
Tuesday, 18 March 2023 Clarence Valley Council held its
Ordinary Monthly Meeting.
Officially
present at that meeting according to the Minutes
were:
Cr
Greg Clancy [Deputy
Mayor], Cr Bill Day, Cr Peter Johnstone, Cr
Debrah Novak, Cr Steve Pickering, Cr Jeff Smith, Cr Ian Tiley
[Mayor],
Cr Karen Toms and Cr Allison Whaites,
General Manager (Laura Black), Director –
Corporate & Community (Alex Moar), Director – Environment &
Planning (Adam Cameron), Director – Works & Civil (Jamie
Fleeting) and Minutes Secretary (Lee Boon).
The fourth item of business for Council In The Chamber that day was the
following Notice of Motion:
Item
06.23.004 Rezoning Lands on West Yamba Floodplain
Note:
Crs Tiley and Johnstone left the Chamber ahead of this motion at
2:08pm, having asserted a non-pecuniary conflict of interest existed
in relation to Item 06.23.004. Both noting sitting members on Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel. Under s6.1 of the Code of Meeting
Practice, the Deputy Chair became the chair in the Mayor’s absence.
MOTION
Clancy/Smith
That
Council:
1.
note the legal advice tabled at the February Ordinary Council Meeting
that compensation would not be
payable
in the event that the Department of Planning and Environment, on the
recommendation of
Council,
was to approve a rezoning of lands in the West Yamba Urban Release
Area (WYURA) from
residential
R1 to C2 or a mix of C2 and RU2 depending on the results of the
planning study;
2.
prepare a planning proposal for submission to the Department of
Planning and Environment requesting
that
the vacant land, which do not have development approvals for
subdivision, in the West Yamba
Urban
Release Area (WYURA) be rezoned from Residential (R1) to Conservation
(C2) zoning or a mix
of
Conservation (C2) and Rural (RU2) based on the impacts of further
development on the environment
and
the risk to human life and property from future flooding.
Voting
recorded as follows
For:
Clancy, Smith
Against:
Day, Novak, Pickering, Toms, Whaites
The
Motion was put and declared LOST
[my
yellow highlighting]
To say that the writer of this post is disappointed beyond measure at this outcome is an understatement.
Those
names listed as voting down the re-zoning motion, Bill Day, Debrah Novak, Steve
Pickering, Karen Toms and Allison Waites, should be noted for future
reference by Yamba residents & ratepayers when - as landfill proceeds apace - the next inevitable major Lower Clarence River flood arrives.
An
alternate Motion in
Item 06.23.004was
put up by Cr. Day & seconded by Cr. Smith and lost. That particular risible motion
all but issued an invitation to the NSW Nationals to turn any
rezoning of the West Yamba Urban Release Area into both a regional
and state brawl along partisan political lines in which property developers would have eagerly participated. It was voted down by
Crs. Clancy,
Novak, Toms, Whaites.
BACKGROUND
SUMMARY
Approved
development of the Yamba floodplain under the provisions of the West
Yamba Urban Release Area
(WYURA) planning approval has resulted in large amounts of fill being
transported to the site, particularly
along Gardeners Road, Yamba Road and Carrs Drive. The constant truck
movements (1 every 10
minutes), has caused great consternation among a number of Yamba
residents. The large amount of fill would
appear to be exacerbating localized flooding around the Carrs Drive
roundabout and the area surrounding
it. There is also concern that the large amount of fill is affecting,
and will increasing affect, the drainage
of the area, adversely affecting low lying residences and the
environment.
PROPOSED
MOTION
That
Council:
1.
note the legal advice tabled at the February Ordinary Council Meeting
that compensation would not be payable
in the event that the Department of Planning and Environment, on the
recommendation of Council,
was to approve a rezoning of lands in the West Yamba Urban Release
Area (WYURA) from residential
R1 to C2 or a mix of C2 and RU2 depending on the results of the
planning study;
2.
prepare a planning proposal for submission to the Department of
Planning and Environment requesting
that the vacant land, which do not have development approvals for
subdivision, in the West Yamba
Urban Release Area (WYURA) be rezoned from Residential (R1) to
Conservation (C2) zoning or
a mix of Conservation (C2) and Rural (RU2) based on the impacts of
further development on the environment
and the risk to human life and property from future flooding.
The eighth item of business at that 18 April ordinary council meeting was a development application for a 6 lot subdivision of an existing parcel of land in West Yamba Urban Release Area, lodged on behalf of a commercial fisher-cum-property developer.
It was refused as per COUNCIL
RESOLUTION - 07.23.050
Clancy/Johnstone
That
council refuse Development Application SUB2021/0045 for the following
reasons covered by
Section
4.15 of the Environmental, Planning and Assessment Act 1979:
a)
The land being a wetland (Swamp Forest of Swamp Oak) making it
unsuitable for the proposed
development;
b)
The nine submissions raised major concerns about the potential for
flooding, impacts of stormwater
runoff and clearing of natural vegetation.
c)
The likely impacts of the development on the natural environment;
d)
Impact on areas of C2 zoning for some infrastructure.
DISCLAIMER: The author of this post is a Yamba resident living alone in a single storey dwelling in a street adjoining a 20 year-old 6.65ha landfill comprising est. 90,000 cubic metres of river dredge & soil. The street is regularly cut off by riverine floodwater, or a combination of floodwater and storm water, preventing access to the town's nominal evacuation centre. The author has no independent means of leaving the town if residents are advised to do so ahead of a large flood front. In 2022 a small number of houses within this short street experienced flooding.
Nymboida River, one of the twenty-four tributaries of the Clarence River and the principal source of drinking water for most residents in Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour City local government areas. IMAGE: Arden E, YouTube 2015
The
Clarence
Valley’s
rich biodiverse landscapes
have
nurtured and supported
generations beyond count and down
the years communities
—as
well as the grass roots organisations they support —across
the Clarence
RiverCatchment
have worked hard
to
protect that which gives them life and livelihoods.
Because
in places such as the Clarence Valley withits
variable river systems;
the aesthetic, environmental, social, cultural and economic values of
its communities are intertwined.
Healthy rivers, clear running creeks, intact
temperate
& subtropical close & open forests along with ancient
remnants of the Gondwanaland forests, arable
soils found in smaller valleys and the larger floodplain, as well as
a long coastal zone providing tourism opportunities, all
combine to provide a population of est. 54,180 men, women and children
living
in the catchment area with a solid
local
economy which keeps the local
government area
vibrant and its
over 4,000 businesses productive.
Businesses
whose products and services make up est. 17 per cent of the wider
Northern Rivers regional economy. [Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021, idcommunity
2021]
Make
no mistake. The Clarence Valley relies on the fact that its air is
fresh, free-flowing
waters
clean, main primary industries sustainable and its landscapes
pleasing to the eye of tourists. For without those
four things the Clarence Valley regional economy would not be worth
anything like the over
$2
billion
it is
consistently
valued at
despite the ongoing pressures of war in Ukraine and global pandemic [National Institute of Economic and Industry Research 2021].
It
is also not just Clarence Valley residents that rely on good
stewardship being applied to land and
waters within
the Clarence catchment area. An est. 78,738
people
and
6,174 businesses in
Coffs Harbour City local government area rely on the urban
water
infrastructure within Clarence Valley local government area to supply
them with town
water.
However,
constantly growing population
pressure and the commercial interests of often large-scale and/or
state-sponsored industries (particularly
construction, mining
& forestry) has seen
Clarence catchment
landscapes being altered in ways that are
becoming destructive.
Forestry now covers 20 per cent of Clarence River Catchment land and by 2022 there were a total of 18 existing mineral and gold mining leases, along with more than 41 mining exploration leases, in the catchment area. [NSW Government, Industry NSW, 2022] It should be noted that mining leases are on the traditional lands of three First Nations peoples.
Under
threat are the streams, creeks and rivers which feed the longest
coastal river on the
Australian east coast, the
Clarence River. Also under threat are the remaining tracts of native
forest, as well as the tree cover on the Clarence Catchment’s steep
hills which help anchor rock and soil to the hillsides and prevent it
sliding down and choking the waterways that weave their way among
them.
Since
the 1990s there have been a
number of government
contracted
reports concerning the Clarence Basin and its waterways. All
have highlighted concerns still held today and largely unaddressed –
the risks that mining activity, large scale forestry, soil
erosion and water turbidity pose
to the environment and waterways of the Clarence Basin.
Right
now in March 2023 Clarence electorate residents have the opportunity
to make their voices heard when they cast their votes this coming
Saturday at
the NSW State Election.
On
Friday morning 17 March 2023 the Clarence Catchment Alliance(CCA)—a non-partisan,
not-for-profit, community volunteer group established in 2018 as
a response to increased
mining exploration activity—held a press conference
close to Whiting Beach, Yamba.
Clarence
Catchment Alliance had invited members of the media, sitting MPs,
candidates standing at next week’s state election, representatives
from other community & business groups, as well as members of the
public as observers,
to this event.
The
purpose of the press conference was to draw attention to the growing
alarm about mineral
extraction projects within the
Clarence River catchment and any expansion of this activity across its 24 sub-catchments.
The
event began with a Welcome to Country by Yaegl emerging elder Diane
Randall, the press
conference taking place on traditional Yaegl lands.
It
was followed
by an introduction from Shae
Fleming one of the CCA
organisers and then went onto comments
by various speakers from
other groups including the Clarence Environment Centre and the Yamba District Chamber of Commerce. Brief
presentations were made by candidates standing in the Clarence
electorate as well as candidates standing in
Coffs Harbour and Lismore electorates. There was a general consensus that
the waters of the Clarence River catchment area needed to be protected.
Unfortunately
the Nationals candidate for Clarence, Richie
Williamson,
did not attend. However, given the strong pro-mining, pro-barely
regulated land clearing, pro-native timber harvesting and pro-state
and private forestry policies and practices of the Nationals as
partner in successive NSW Coalition governments, that is hardly
surprising.
What
was surprising was the rider added by the Labor candidate for
Clarence to his general support of protecting the Clarence catchment
area. Leon
Ankersmit stated that the
Labor Party
would not allow him to sign the CCA pledge of support as the
party was in favour of mining
in Northern New South Wales.
The
following is a brief summary
ofconcerns
articulated by some of those
that spoke at the press
conference, in no particular order.
JOHN
EDWARDS (Clarence
Environment Centre): It’s not coal or iron that worries me – it’s
heavy metal mining. Ore get trucked from mine sites but processing
minerals begins at the mine. The evaporation ponds produce a toxic
sludge which permanently contaminates the soil and remediation is
merely covering that soil with more
soil. Leaving a time bomb behind when the mining company leaves.(Signed
the CCA pledge)
SUE
HIGGINSON
(Greens MLA): The community here worked hard to shut down the
Timbarra Gold Mine after it leaked cyanide into the Clarence River.
However mining leases are still being granted in river catchments.
Local
seafood, dairy, sugar cane, livestock, crops, and tourism, and the
industries that serve them, need clean water. (Signed
the CCA pledge)
SHAE
FLEMING (Clarence
Coastal Alliance): We already have healthy water based industries
here. They need protecting. (Signed
the CCA pledge)
JAMES
ALLAN
(current President, Yamba Chamber of Commerce): Degradation of our
waterways leads to degradation of our businesses. I support No
Mines
in the Clarence catchment. There are few jobs in mining. Re-opening
the Drake mine would only create fifty jobs. (Signed
the CCA pledge)
BRETT
DUROUX
(Indigenous Australia Party candidate
for Clarence):
I grew up in Cangai, raised in the old ways. The
bush is a place of beauty and healing for so many people. Miners
needs are not as important as our needs. My response to proposals to
mine in the Clarence Valley is “NEVER!” (Signed
the CCA pledge)
NICKI
LEVI
(Independent candidate for
Clarence):
Water is sacred, water is precious, water is life. Our
priorities should be to protect the air in the Richmond Valley and
water in the Clarence Valley. (Signed
the CCA pledge)
DEBRA
NOVAK (Independent
candidate for Clarence & current Clarence Valley councillor): If
elected I pledge to lobby hard for a moratorium on mineral
mining
just as we successfully did with coal seam gas mining. Nothing
is more important than protecting the water. (Signed
the CCA pledge)
GREG
CLANCY (Greens
candidate for Clarence & current Clarence Valley Council
Deputy-Mayor): I
have been protesting against threats to the rivers for a long time.
Mining
in this wonderful environment is “not on”. Parts
of the Mann River are already dead zones because of previous mining
ventures. (Signed
the CCA pledge)
LEON
ANKERSMIT
(Labor candidate for Clarence): I’m proud of the sustainable
industries that rely on a healthy river like prawning and fishing.
Our land is precious and its such an important job to protect our
river. (Refused to sign CCA pledge)
MARK
RAYNOR
(Legalise Cannabis Party candidate for Clarence): We
need to find new industries and new crops not start new mines.
(Signed
the CCA pledge)
TIM
NOTT
(Greens candidate for Coffs Harbour): Mining is being done the wrong
way - mining near waterways produces industrial level pollution.
(Signed
the CCA pledge)
ALISON
WATERS(Animal
Justice Party candidate forNSW
Upper House representing Northern NSW):
They
are our waterways and our catchments. We need to protect them.
(Signed
the CCA pledge)
VANESSA
ROSAYRO
(Animal Justice Party candidate for
Lismore): Mining
just doesn’t affect our lives. It affects marine and plant life and
the lives of local animals. (Signed
the CCA pledge)
Clarence
Valley Council (CVC) will seek legal opinion to see if compensation
will be liable if vacant land that doesn’t have development
application approval at West Yamba is rezoned by the NSW Planning
Minister – a move that would limit further development.
Deputy
Mayor Greg Clancy put forward the motion at the December 13 CVC
meeting concerning land in the West Yamba Urban Release Area WYURA,
which is predicted to increase the population of Yamba by 2000 people
when development is complete.
Cr
Clancy said planning approvals in Wyura requiring large amount of
fill would appear to be exacerbating localised flooding around the
Carrs Drive roundabout and the area surrounding it.
Following
the impact of the 2022 floods, which saw Yamba cut off for several
days, there is also concern that the large amount of fill is
affecting, and will increasingly affect the drainage of the area,
adversely affecting low lying residences and the environment.
Cr
Karen Toms asked Cr Clancy whether he knew that the General Manager
had already sought legal advice before he put the motion forward.
“I
was aware that the Mayor had asked the General Manager to seek legal
advice, I wasn’t aware that it had actually been done,” he said.
Cr
Clancy said with all the issues going on in the Yamba area, council
was now in a position to understand what we can do or can’t do in
terms of development on the floodplain.
“We’ve
had the Prime Minister and we’ve had the Premier both stating that
there should be no more development on the floodplain, he said.
“However,
to date we haven’t received any official notice that there’s
legislation being prepared, or passed, or whatever, to do that.
“In
the interim we need to determine councils’ position in relation to
development on the floodplain and West Yamba is our largest area
where we have potential development on the floodplain.
“All
this motion is doing is seeing whether council or the ratepayers
would be liable if we go down the path of applying for a rezoning of
land which has been zoned under the Wyura as residential, back to
rural, and or a mixture maybe of rural and conservation, because
there’s some important conservation areas in that area.
“Once
we get the legal opinion, council would be in a much better position
to consider what action we want to take.
“If
we put a rezoning application in, we would need to know if the
council and the ratepayers would be liable to any compensation.”
Mayor
Ian Tiley said he and General Manager, Laura Black had discussed the
matter a number of times and council was awaiting legal advice on
rezoning.
Cr
Steve Pickering said he would be supporting the motion as the
community wanted to see action not just in Yamba, but on the
floodplain generally.
“This
is a question that has been asked many times of me and I think it’s
prudent for us as a council to actually seek legal advice,” he
said.
Cr
Karen Toms said she would not be supporting the motion as it was ‘a
what if question’.
“To
me it’s a speculation in itself because we’re asking a lawyer to
say well if the government decides to come in and change the zoning
of privately owned land will we need to pay compensation,” she
said.
“I
would rather see this put on hold until we actually get the
information back.”
Cr
Bill Day said he believed the motion endorsed the actions of the
Mayor and the General Manager to seek legal advice on rezoning land
at West Yamba.
In
the motion put forward by Cr Greg Clancy and seconded by Cr Jeff
Smith council resolved to seek a legal opinion as to:
1.
Whether compensation becomes liable when and if the NSW Planning
Minister was to rezone vacant lands that have not had DA approval for
development on the Yamba floodplain (WYURA ) from R1 General
Residential to RU2 Rural landscape and C2 Environmental Conservation
zonings at Council’s request, and
2.
Whether compensation becomes liable if land previously approved for
the importation of fill was to be similarly rezoned;
3.
Whether there are any other legal implications of such an action.
The
motion was carried 7-2 and supported by all councillors except Cr
Karen Toms and Cr Allison Whaites.
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
[Adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948]
Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
A false flag musing: I have noticed one particular voice on Facebook which is Pollyanna-positive on the subject of the Port of Yamba becoming a designated cruise ship destination. What this gentleman doesn’t disclose is that, as a principal of Middle Star Pty Ltd, he could be thought to have a potential pecuniary interest due to the fact that this corporation (which has had an office in Grafton since 2012) provides consultancy services and tourismbusiness development services.
A religion & local government musing: On 11 October 2017 Clarence Valley Council has the Church of Jesus Christ Development Fund Inc in Sutherland Local Court No. 6 for a small claims hearing. It would appear that there may be a little issue in rendering unto Caesar. On 19 September 2017 an ordained minister of a religion (which was named by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in relation to 40 instances of historical child sexual abuse on the NSW North Coast) read the Opening Prayer at Council’s ordinary monthly meeting. Earlier in the year an ordained minister (from a church network alleged to have supported an overseas orphanage closed because of child abuse claims in 2013) read the Opening Prayer and an ordained minister (belonging to yet another church network accused of ignoring child sexual abuse in the US and racism in South Africa) read the Opening Prayer at yet another ordinary monthly meeting. Nice one councillors - you are covering yourselves with glory!
An investigative musing: Newcastle Herald, 12 August 2017: The state’s corruption watchdog has been asked to investigate the finances of the Awabakal Aboriginal Local Land Council, less than 12 months after the troubled organisation was placed into administration by the state government. The Newcastle Herald understands accounting firm PKF Lawler made the decision to refer the land council to the Independent Commission Against Corruption after discovering a number of irregularities during an audit of its financial statements.The results of the audit were recently presented to a meeting of Awabakal members. Administrator Terry Lawler did not respond when contacted by the Herald and a PKF Lawler spokesperson said it was unable to comment on the matter. Given the intricate web of company relationships that existed with at least one former board member it is not outside the realms of possibility that, if ICAC accepts this referral, then United Land Councils Limited (registered New Zealand) and United First Peoples Syndications Pty Ltd(registered Australia) might be interviewed. North Coast Voices readers will remember that on 15 August 2015 representatives of these two companied gave evidence before NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 INQUIRY INTO CROWN LAND. This evidence included advocating for a Yamba mega port.
A Nationals musing: Word around the traps is that NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has been talking up the notion of cruise ships visiting the Clarence River estuary. Fair dinkum! That man can be guaranteed to run with any bad idea put to him. I'm sure one or more cruise ships moored in the main navigation channel on a regular basis for one, two or three days is something other regular river users will really welcome. *pause for appreciation of irony* The draft of the smallest of the smaller cruise vessels is 3 metres and it would only stay safely afloat in that channel. Even the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to get momentarily stuck in silt/sand from time to time in Yamba Bay and even a very small cruise ship wouldn't be able to safely enter and exit Iluka Bay. You can bet your bottom dollar operators of cruise lines would soon be calling for dredging at the approach to the river mouth - and you know how well that goes down with the local residents.
A local councils musing: Which Northern Rivers council is on a low-key NSW Office of Local Government watch list courtesy of feet dragging by a past general manager?
A serial pest musing: I'm sure the Clarence Valley was thrilled to find that a well-known fantasist is active once again in the wee small hours of the morning treading a well-worn path of accusations involving police, local business owners and others.
An investigative musing: Which NSW North Coast council is batting to have the longest running code of conduct complaint investigation on record?
A which bank? musing: Despite a net profit last year of $9,227 million the Commonwealth Bank still insists on paying below Centrelink deeming rates interest on money held in Pensioner Security Accounts. One local wag says he’s waiting for the first bill from the bank charging him for the privilege of keeping his pension dollars at that bank.
A Daily Examiner musing: Just when you thought this newspaper could sink no lower under News Corp management, it continues to give column space to Andrew Bolt.
A thought to ponder musing: In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?
An adoption musing: Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.
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