Luis Feliu
Moves by several Tweed shire councillors to block a proposed men’s shed at the Black Rocks sportsfield south of Pottsville and for a koala/dog-proof gate there to be locked at all times were sunk last night in a narrow 4-3 vote.
After a lengthy and often heated debate, Crs Katie Milne, Michael Armstrong and mayor Gary Bagnall failed to persuade a majority of their colleagues to look for another site for the men’s shed and to keep the gate locked during the day in order, they said, to give the dwindling koala population surrounding the isolated sportsfield a fighting chance of survival.
Cr Barry Longland, who was replaced last month as mayor by Cr Gary Bagnall and who normally votes with the progressive majority of council, sided with the pro-development bloc of Crs Warren Polglase, Phil Youngblutt and Carolyn Byrne on both issues.
Cr Milne said the survival of the Tweed Coast koalas was at stake, with a recent estimate of koala numbers ringing alarm bells for the protection of the animal along the coastline. The Black Rocks sportsfield is within the Pottsville wetland, a well-known koala habitat.
‘We’re supposed to protect the koalas, and yet we now have only around 110 left… how many more do you want to lose?’ Cr Milne said.
‘We’ve lost 35 koalas in the last year alone, at this rate they’ll all be gone in three years.’
Cr Milne had tried to have a previous council decision for the dog-proof vehicle-entry gate to be closed at night only rescinded and for the gate to be locked at all times except during authorised access by sporting groups and others.
Cr Milne argued the gate, which is around 300 metres from the sportsfield, did not affect pedestrian access to the field, just vehicles, and that people would not be inconvenienced by having it locked at all times,.
She said authorised groups were able to obtain keys for the gate when they wanted to use it, and by locking it during the day a free-flow of vehicles would be prevented and stop the ‘hooning’ that had occurred there in the past.
She said the field was in the middle of three koala corridors and koalas, which were susceptible to stress-related disease, would be impacted by unathorised vehicle use.
Cr Milne said people could use the walk from the gate to the field to ‘warm up’ and closing it would not be restrictive.
But Cr Byrne said closing the gate would go against council’s access and inclusion policy and possibly ‘against the federal anti-discrimination act’.
Cr Byrne said the sportsfield was for the benefit of the whole community, not just sporting groups, and that hooning had occurred there in the past even when the gate was closed.
She said she had a disability affecting her walking long distances and was unable to access the sportsfield by walking from the gate.
Cr Youngblutt said that council did not lock other similar sporting fields and he wouldn’t leave his car unattended at the gate.
He said the moves were part of a ‘greens’ agenda so the sportsfield could be closed down and planted with koala habitat trees.
activities to take place there.
Cr Armstrong said the koala population was also a community asset and should be taken into consideration.
He said he grew up in a an area where 5,000 people shared a sportsfield which was locked at all times and it was a simple process for users to obtain the key for it at the local corner store.
Cr Longland said the field was a community green space and if ‘a mum and her kids wanted to fly a kite there, should she drive to the shops to collect the key?’
He said he would not support the moves as ‘we’ve done lots to recognise the ecological issues’.
Cr Polglase’s notice of motion for council to prepare and lodge a development application for a demountable men’s shed at the sportsfield was passed 4-3 (Crs Milne, Bagnall and Armstrong against).
During debate, Cr Polglase produced an email sent to a men’s shed member which he described as ‘disturbing and intimidating’ as it threatened legal action against the men’s shed group if they pursued the Black Rocks site.
He passed on copies of the email, signed by ‘Peter Steele, president of the World Wildlife Sanctuaries Ltd’, to the media in the council chamber.
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