Showing posts with label Clarence Valley Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clarence Valley Council. Show all posts

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Not a good look for the start of the 2024 local government year in the Clarence Valley, NSW

 

The local government year begins in the Clarence Valley at the end of February each year with the holding of an Ordinary Monthly Meeting.


In 2024 this first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 27 February.


So it came as something of a surprise when the current Clarence Valley Mayor briefed a local newspaper thus.....


ClarenceValley Independent, 14 February 2024:


An extraordinary meeting of Clarence Valley Council has been called for tomorrow, Thursday, February 15, where councillors are set to discuss the Performance Review of General Manager, Laura Black.


Clarence Valley Council Mayor, Peter Johnstone provided the CV Independent with embargoed details about the meeting to meet our print deadline, prior to the meeting agenda being made public.


Cr Johnstone said he will be putting forward a motion that council:


Note the Annual Performance Management report from the Performance Management Review Panel.

Endorse the recommendation from the Performance Management Review Panel to award the General Manager a 2 per-cent pay rise under paragraph 8.3 of the Standard Contract of Employment for General Managers of Local Councils in New South Wales with the increase backdated to October 7, 2023.


Based on the General Manager’s current salary of $342,696.93, Cr Johnstone said the amount of the pay rise will be about $7200.


In accordance with the Code of Meeting Practice the extraordinary meeting will be livestreamed on council’s website, but it may go into a confidential session if required, which will not be broadcast.


Clarence Valley Council awarded General Manager Laura

Black a 2 per cent pay rise backdated to 7 October 2023 following a split vote of 5 to 4 at an extraordinary meeting of council on 15 February 2024. With those 'For' being Mayor Johnstone & Crs. Whaites, Novak, Toms, Pickering and those 'Against' being Deputy Mayor Smith & Crs. Tiley, Clancy, Day.


The pay rise was an obvious workaround of the NSW Government freeze on annual pay rises for politicians and senior staff, which included local government general managers.


Ms Black's salary before the pay rise was endorsed by council was $342,696.93. With the rise her annual salary is likely to be in excess of 349,550, with an additional backdated windfall of almost $3,000.


A rescission motion lodged against the decision to award the General Manager a pay rise will be heard at the Ordinary General Meeting on 27 February.


The Northern Rivers Times reported that an extraordinary meeting had already been called for 15 February when the Mayor appears to have announced a second extraordinary meeting:




IMAGE: Northern Rivers Times, 14 February 2024


One can only speculate what the phrase "some matters concerning senior staff" actually means and whether it might have been intended to include the general manger on issues unrelated to the annual salary.


Reportedly in an interview on Loving Life FM 103.1 on the morning of Friday 16 February, Mayor Peter Johnstone appeared to disavow the fact that he had called another extraordinary meeting separate in nature from the original extraordinary meeting (later withdrawn) which intended to discuss matters concerning council staff.


Given that on the day there was also a tussle to keep the meeting's motion debate in the Chamber in closed session and forever away from public scrutiny, this matter is likely to fester and affect the collegiate atmosphere expected of the third tier of government.


In this writer's opinion Peter Johnstone was never a wise choice for mayor and this is not the first time his actions have borne out that view. 


The mayor holds office until the next NSW local government elections on 24 September 2024.


Thursday 4 January 2024

Yet another Clarence Valley development application with wet feet?

 

MASTER PLAN
DA 2023/0711
Click on all images to enlarge






Clarence Valley Independent, 20 December 2023:


A development application DA 2023/0711 for a $6.65 million 95 lot manufactured home estate at South Grafton is currently being assessed by Clarence Valley Council and submissions from the public are invited.


The DA lodged by John Codling is for the demolition of existing buildings at 252 to 298 Rushforth Road and construction of a 95 dwelling manufactured home estate, a community building, a 25m by 10m swimming pool, children’s play area, community gardens, recreation areas and community title subdivision.


The Statement of Environmental Effects SEE, lodged with the DA states the 95 home manufactured housing estate will take up 8.57 hectares of the 11.54-hectare property, with proposed residential sites varying from 282 square metres to 450 square metres.


The Manufactured Home estate will be located on the southern and eastern portions of the property, with the northern and western areas remaining unimpacted by construction.


The proposed large community clubhouse, centrally located at the entrance to the development, will act as an indoor and outdoor meeting place for residents of the estate and their visitors,” the SEE states.


The proposed dwelling sites and community facilities will be set in a landscaped environment supported by recreational facilities.”......


Sounds like low income retirees heaven, doesn't it?


Until one realises that an existing wide drainage channel easement dissects the planned manufactured home estate and discharges into what appears to be marshland and creek. Which sets the mind a-wondering.


From there it is easy to discover that the entire manufactured home estate on that lot will be directly in the path of the maximum possible Clarence River flood (based on probable maximum precipitation) according to Clarence Valley Council 2022 flood modelling.








Clarence River very dark blue, 1 in 100 probability in any given year for a flood event is coloured darker blue and, the full range of a maximum probability flood coloured light blue with est. 11.5 ha DA site in dark red.

IMAGE: https://maps.clarence.nsw.gov.au/intramaps910/


In addition the "Stormwater Management Plan & Preliminary Flood Assessment" (17 October 2023) at Page 10 supports this view and adds another dimension:


2. The subject site is subject to Clarence River flooding during an ‘extreme event’. This is limited to the northeastern portion of the site (Figure 4).....


5. The entire site is subject to flooding during a Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) event (Figure 8). Depth and velocity information is not available.


6. Site inundation due to 1:100 storm event runoff from the Rushforth Reservoir (Figure 9) is similar but of a lesser extent than what is mapped as fluvial inundation (Figure 5). Nine lots are affected by shallow (<0.2m) inundation (Figure 11).


7. A Rushforth Reservoir dam break would inundated a large component of the northeastern site precinct (Figure 10). The inundation depth in the northeastern part of the site where the lots are is generally below 0.5 metres (Figure 12), but it increases to 0.8 metres along the eastern site boundary (past the lots).










The developer cannot fail to be aware that the site will experience everything from episodic, low-level nuisance flooding from the creek to a probable maximum full inundation from the river 13.6-13.7m in height potentially sending on a conservative calculation 0.6-3.8m or somewhere between 2-12 feet of rushing water though the manufactured home estate.


Bottom line is that the next time climate change throws a record breaking Clarence River flood at valley communities, South Grafton will possibly have another 190+ people to evacuate to higher ground - as is advised at Page 18 of the developer's document "Stormwater Management Plan & Preliminary Flood Assessment". 


Not sounding quite as attractive now, does it?


SEE FULL DETAILS AT: https://cvc-web.t1cloud.com/T1PRDefault/WebApps/eProperty/P1/eTrack/eTrackApplicationDetails.aspx?r=CVC.P1.WEBGUEST&f=%24P1.ETR.APPDET.VIW&ApplicationId=DA2023%2f0711


Thursday 21 December 2023

About that infill re-development proposal for Yamba Hill & CBD


The General Manager

Clarence Valley Council

2 Prince St, Grafton, NSW 2460

council@clarence.nsw.gov.au


21 December 2023


COPY TO:

Cr. Peter Johnstone (Mayor)

Cr. Jeff Smith (Deputy Mayor)

Crs. Allison Whaites, Debrah Novak, Greg Clancy, Ian Tiley, Karen Toms, Steve Pickering, William Day


Dear Sir,


RE: Clarence Valley Council Draft Local Housing Strategy and Draft Affordable Housing Policy – on public exhibition until 9am Friday 22 December 2023


Draft Local Housing Strategy (final form 27 October 2023) a 158 page document and Affordable Housing Policy 2015 (final form 11 October 2023) a 7 page document, lay out Clarence Valley Council's proposal for future residential development in the upper and lower Clarence Valley.


These documents speak to using medium density infill development to more closely align urban area demographics with what local and state governments consider 'ideal'. NSW Government policy suggests that infill development can exceed surrounding building heights provided 10-15 per cent of a new building's total floor area can be considered 'affordable housing'.


When it comes to Yamba there are two infill proposals.

One for above existing shop residential flats /apartments raising an undisclosed number of commercial buildings to heights of 18 metres in the town CBD. Foreshadowing increased pressure on town parking which already frequently has cars cruising the main and side streets repeatedly trying to find a parking spot - a situation made worse by visitors in holiday periods. Added to that the street shadows cast by the raised height of buildings in a central business district where casual outdoor dining is enjoyed by residents & visitors alike. Entrance to these above shop flats/apartments will require stairs and this will potentially limit residency to those without mobility or other health issues, those who are not frail aged and perhaps not be accommodation favoured by parents with very small children.


The second infill proposal is for 152 R3 Medium Density dwellings on Yamba Hill, which after demolition of up to 70 existing houses on selected lots will see the net new infill dwellings reduced to est. 82 "Premium townhouses in desirable location near to the ocean" 12 meters in height. [Clarence Valley Council, October 2023].


The three housing types shown as examples of infill dwellings in the "Draft Local Housing Strategy" at page 42 were Dual Occupancy, Terrace Houses and Manor House which is simply a two story block of flats.

All of them shared the same features: internal staircases, common walls and an indication that there would be little to no cross ventilation into some of these dwellings. In the case of the block of flats there was no architectural feature which would lessen the heat hitting the buildings outer walls.


So many of Yamba's existing two-bedroom duplex dwellings, due to inappropriate building design & small lot size, experience both hot and cold extremes to a degree larger housing tends to avoid.


Given Australia's average air-surface temperature has increased to1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910 [CSIRO online, retrieved 21.12.23] and the average global temperature is 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels and expected to begin to consistently surpass 1.5°C from 2024 onwards [Hansen, James et al, November 2023,"Global Warming Acceleration"], I would have expected Council to indicate that it realises that vulnerable people are going to start dying during heat extremes in just such multiple dwelling designs it offered as examples. After all it does briefly mention under Strategic Directions, "Adapt to climate change and reduce exposure to natural hazards".


By the same token, given science has made it clear that tropical storms are now moving polewards, slowing down but growing in destructive force and are predicted to occur as Category 2 cyclones as far south as the NSW coast with Corindi Beach as the range limit [Bruy`ere, C.L. et al, Sept 2022, "Using large climate model ensembles to assess historical and future tropical cyclone activity along the Australian east coast"] it is not unreasonable to expect there would be some mention of housing designs with wind loading standards higher than 57 m/s.


As a general observation I was disappointed that the necessary broad brush approach to population demographics was not refined once specific re-development sites were outlined [See Appendix].


I suggest that Council gives serious and detailed consideration to the exacerbated climate change risks that urban areas now face and, consider amending the two documents to include ways to limit the degree to which such risks affect the built environment. Thus making it clear to all stakeholders that Council expects and will insist on a higher level of structural safety built into infill house designs and development applications.


I further suggest that Council reconsider the impact that increased building height associated with shoptop housing may have on the character of CBD streetscapes which form part of the tourist experience of Yamba and, from which local income is derived which supports the Clarence Valley regional economy bottom line.


In anticipation and appreciation of your assistance with this matter.


Sincerely,


[signature & address redacted]


Yamba NSW 2464



APPENDIX


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION


Yamba, a coastal urban precinct covers an est.16.92km of degraded sand hills, a section of elevated coastline with unstable soils, predominately soft estuarine & ocean shore lines, drained marshland, small tidal water courses, subverted natural flood ways and, a former natural flood storage area historically used as pasture but now under development.


It is bordered by the Clarence River (north), Sullivans Road-southern limits of an established golf course (south), Pacific Ocean (east) and Oyster Channel (west).


TOWN POPULATION


As of 2022 the town's resident population is est. 6,403 persons with a population density calculated at 378.5 persons per sq.km [.id Community: Demographic Resources, "Yamba Community Profile", online version].

NOTE: Yamba's current resident population is thought to represent a little over 10 per cent of the total Clarence Valley population [Clarence Valley Council, October 2023]


The Yamba estimated resident population had remained stable at between 6,168 and 6,403 persons in the six financial years 2017 to 2022, indicating a population growth of just 235 individuals or an average population change percentage of less that one point [.id, Yamba Community Profile].


BUILT ENVIRONMENT


The built environment includes two distinct shopping precincts, a mixed light industrial estate, a marina, various forms of holiday/tourist accommodation, two hotels, two sports-based social clubs, a number of small restaurant/cafes, a cinema, a post office, two banks, two primary schools, a digital TAFE space and, approx. 3,643 dwellings with an average household size of 2.1 persons [ABS Census 2021].


PUBLIC TRANSPORT


Public transport in the town consists of 8 daily bus movements out of Yamba from Monday to Friday which follows a set route through 10 town streets. With 4 bus movements on Saturday, Sunday & public holidays.

There are 8 daily bus movements into Yamba from Monday to Friday and 4 bus movements on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Wait times between buses on weekdays is between an hour and a half to two hours depending on the time of day.

The bus service is supplemented by one taxi nominally operating 7 days a week from 7:30am to 10:00pm. However due to post-pandemic state-wide movement restrictions which affected the local economy this taxi service sometimes has to use the Yamba taxi to service Maclean township as well and, on occasion it is not on the road at all due to staffing issues. The one rideshare vehicle nominally operating in Yamba has restricted hours.



HOUSING


The permanently occupied residential dwellings are est. 2,783 dwellings, with the remaining 860 unoccupied residential dwellings presumably being either investment properties, second homes, deceased estates or for sale as vacant possession on Census Night.

NOTE: Holiday rental & AirBnB accommodation were excluded from the occupied residential dwelling count in Census 2021 and presumably their number can be found in the 411 dwelling difference between the occupied & unoccupied residential dwellings and the overall total of undifferentiated dwellings in the town [ABS, Yamba (NSW) 2021Census: All persons QuickStats].


By 2021 the residential housing profile was:

Separate house — 2,091

Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc — 474

Flat or apartment —161

Other — 44. [ibid]

NOTE: An est. 71.9 per cent of all occupied residential housing had between 2 to 3 bedrooms.


Of the occupied residential dwelling an est. 69.3 per cent were owner occupied while another 27.2 per cent were occupied by persons renting their accommodation [op cit].



VACANT LAND WITHIN TOWN PRECINCTS


Within town precincts there is sufficient vacant land with residential zoning — much of it with active development consents and some of it in the process of site preparation in anticipation of subdivision & sale/lease. Included in active consents & proposed developments are medium density subdivisions and manufactured home estates.


It is currently estimated over 2,000 people will be housed in active & pending development consents should these be fully realised.


EMPLOYMENT WITHIN THE TOWN


People of workforce age comprise 56.6 per cent of the town population. In June Quarter 2023 the Maclean-Yamba-Iluka unemployment rate was 3.6 per cent in a labour force of 7,013 persons. The unemployment rate for the same quarter in Grafton was 6.4 per cent and unemployment across the entire Clarence Valley in June 2023 was 4.7 per cent.


Sectors where employment is frequently found in the town:

Cafes and Restaurants, Accommodation, Aged Care Residential Services, Primary Education, Supermarket and Grocery Stores.


CURRENT POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS


Age groupings as a percentage of the town population:


  • 0-14 years—13% compared with Northern NSW at 16.3% & all of NSW at 18.2%;

  • 15-24 years—7.4% compared with Northern NSW at 9.7% & all of NSW at 11.8%;

  • 25-39 years—13.1% compared with Northern NSW at 14.9% & all of NSW at 21.4%;

  • 40-54 years—14.1% compared with Northern NSW at 17.7% & all of NSW at 19.1%;

  • 55-64 years—14.8% compared with Northern NSW at 14.8% & all of NSW at 11.9%;

  • 65-79 years—27.7% compared with Northern NSW at 19.9% & all of NSW at 13.1%; and

  • 80 years & older—10.0% compared with Northern NSW at 6.8% & all of NSW at 4.6%. [.id, Yamba (NSW)

    Locality snapshots]

    NOTE: An est. 37.7% of Yamba's population are between 65 to 85+ years of age. While 61.4% of those over 15 years of age are living as legally married or de facto partners.


POPULATION MOVEMENT


Total migration into the Yamba-Angourie area in 2022 & 2023 combined was est. 1,435 persons and migration out of the area was est. 941 persons, resulting in net migration of est. 494 people [.id, Angourie – Yamba: Components of population change].



PROPOSED INFILL ON YAMBA HILL


The section of Yamba Hill which Council has indicated it intends to designate as suitable for R3 medium density infill redevelopment falls with ABS SA1:10401188228 covering 0.39 sq.km with an equivalent population density of 758.9.


Council proposes to allow the demolition of approximately 70 dwellings to be replaced by 152 dwellings in the form of townhouses, with building heights of 12 metres which translate into two floors.


The net dwelling increase will be 82 newly erected dwellings and a projected increase in population on this section of Yamba Hill in the vicinity of 172 persons. Given the description of the housing types anticipated it is highly likely internal access to dwellings would involve staircases.


All newly housed persons would be able to access the direct bus route via Yamba Street. However, as there is a 1hr:30min to 2 hour wait between all weekday bus movements and 2 hour waits on weekends, anyone without access to a car would have to rely on the taxi service or walk between 320 to 800 metres downhill to Yamba Central Business District.

If on foot the return journey via Yamba Street goes from a level 9m elevation increasing by degree up to a 17m elevation near the top of that section of Yamba Hill.

Thursday 5 October 2023

The saying ‘start as you mean to go on’ has acquired a darker meaning under the new Clarence Valley Council Mayor


Clarence Valley Council Ordinary Monthly Meeting 
26 September 2023
Mayor Peter Johnstone in the Chair


 

The first order of business at the Clarence Valley Council Ordinary Monthly Meeting of 26 September 2023 was the mid-term election of a mayor.


So that quite sensibly, if there was a change as to which councillor held the office, the new mayor would chair the remainder of the monthly meeting.


Thus twenty-one minutes into the meeting by a margin of one vote Cr. Peter Johnstone became the new mayor. This was followed by election of the Deputy Mayor, Cr. Jeff Smith.


After these votes the meeting immediately became interesting.


It seems unbeknownst to the general public that morning as Cr. Johnstone, Mayor Johnstone had sent a notice to the other eight councillors that he intended to make a notice of motion rejecting the tender for Regional Aquatic Facility (Grafton Pool Redevelopment).


So when he as Chair requested that Item ITEM 07.23.184 RFT22/41 be brought forward to be considered as the first item of business, he appeared to do so on the pretext that there were a number of residents & ratepayers in the visitors seats who were there to hear council’s decision concerning this tender. A tender which council officers had formerly recommended be accepted as set out in the 26 September Business Paper.


Cr. Day called the item and Mayor Johnstone requested Day to put forward “his motion” which called for rejection of the tender for the Grafton Pool Redevelopment.


The Day motion was as follows:


That Council as Crown Land Manager of Grafton Westward and General Douglas MacArthur Park Reserve

(R540035):

1. Decline to accept the tender offers for RFT22/41 Regional Aquatic Facility (Grafton Olympic Pool) as

the tenders received were higher than anticipated.

2. Revise the Aquatic Centre project to begin with:

a. replacement of the 50m pool (stage 2),

b. demolition of the existing dive pool and 50m pool and importing fill as required to make the

ground flat,

c. the completion of the other works for which grant funding has already been received,

d. and any other matters that will need to be completed to ensure the operation of the new 50m

pool.

3. Defer commencement of the remainder of the project until after the election of the next council.

4. Prepare a report for the October Ordinary Council Meeting setting out the expected timescale and

recommendations for the completion of the project as set out in item 2.

5. Receive a report at each subsequent Ordinary Council Meeting on the progress of the project until

completion.


In the middle of reading of the motion there was some interjection from the gallery at the point where further consideration of full redevelopment of the site was to be deferred until after the next local government election in September 2024, with no direction to seek another tender for work in the interim set out in Point 2. 


Understandable, given the gallery was peopled by around 40 residents/ratepayers who mostly either firmly supported the Regional Aquatic Facility, had made deputations and/or organised a community petition seeking a positive council decision concerning redevelopment of the community pool site. 


Johnstone barked out “Order” in a best parade ground voice, followed by a somewhat inaudible sentence. Some minutes later he made a second request that the audience “keep silent please”.


After reading of the motion was completed Cr. Novak appeared to notice that the wording of Cr. Day’s motion closely resembled the notice of motion sent out that morning by Johnson and sought confirmation of this fact. Johnson confirmed it was indeed “the same motion” he had sent out.


Cr. Toms then fairly efficiently dissected what was essentially the Mayor’s motion and Johnstone refused to answer a question put to him by this councillor.


Cr. Pickering also called the Mayor out as to the late timing of the motion, but it was Cr. Whaites who called a spade a spade when she asked Johnstone did he wait to introduce the motion at this time because he anticipated using the mayoral casting vote “to not do what our community wants – yes or no”.


Johnstone refused to answer, ending the exchange with Whaites on the words “when the mayor’s speaking you will not speak”. Audible laughter could be heard from the gallery at that point.


Cr. Toms continued to question Johnstone’s understanding of the role of mayor once Council in the Chamber had already made a lawful decision to proceed with the full redevelopment of the Grafton Pool site.


As the formal debate of the motion played out Johnstone reminded the gallery that he could order its members be removed. Given the mild nature and short duration of gallery interjections during this monthly meeting Johnstone’s attitude was somewhat puzzling.


Before it came time to vote on what by then every councillor was accepting as being Johnstone’s motion not Day’s, the motion was called “a farce, a joke, and it’s making a mockery of the entire process” by one councillor andit’s slow-minded and it’s short-sighted” by another councillor.


At times the ongoing debate became rather tense but remained essentially civil, nevertheless Johnstone accused Cr. Novak of something like an “act of disorder”. Again quiet laughter could be heard from the gallery.


A meeting recess was called which went on for about 5 minutes. After which the Mayor effectively gagged further debate, with the exception of himself. He spoke to his own slyly delivered motion.


In the end Mayor Johnstone’s motion was voted down five votes to three – only Johnstone, Day And Clancy supporting that motion to reject the tender.


Cr. Pickering having earlier foreshadowed the original council officers motion this was then put as follows:


COUNCIL RESOLUTION - 07.23.184

Pickering/Novak


OFFICER RECOMMENDATION


That Council, as Crown Land Manager of Grafton Westward and General Douglas MacArthur Park

Reserve (R540035):

1. accept the tender from Hines Construction Pty Ltd for RFT22/41 Regional Aquatic Facility (Grafton Pool Redevelopment) at a cost of $29,141,586 (GST Inclusive) to be funded in accordance with the funding strategy – Attachment B.

2. accept the schedule of rates submitted from Hines Construction Pty Ltd for the earthworks, total

cost to be calculated based on actual quantities as determined by a geotechnical engineer during the project works.

3. delegate authority to the General Manager to approve appropriately deemed variations to the Contract and those variations be reported to Council within the Quarterly Budget Review Statement (QBRS) once the Contract is finalised.


Voting recorded that motion carried as follows:

For - Johnstone, Novak, Pickering, Smith, Tiley, Toms, Whaites

Against - Clancy, Day.


One can be forgiven for suspecting that Clarence Valley Council may have chosen the wrong person to lead it for the next 12 months.