The Byron Shire Echo (1/3/17) reported that I voted against moving forward with Byron Shire Council’s Draft Residential Strategy that included measures for delivering ‘affordable’ housing.  I fully support measures for low cost housing to ensure that Byron is a broad demography, not just an enclave of well-heeled retirees and refugees from the city scattered among empty holiday let houses. Disclosure: I am a refugee from the city.
I voted against accepting the draft Residential Strategy because the strategy assumes that we must have yet more development to meet a population target that has been inflated.
The strategy claims that Byron Shire’s  population of 30,700 (at the 2011 count) will increase over 20 years by 7,440 people, needing 4,210 new dwellings, by 2031. Yet the Department of Planning and Environment’s latest projection is that by 2031 our population will only grow by 5,950 people, needing 3,300 new dwellings.
For reasons unknown, council’s strategy has increased projected population growth by 1,490 people (25 per cent) inflating future housing needs. Why?
I do not support the Residential Strategy as I do not support the underlying assumption for increased development and growth that is not evidenced by any data. I do support evidence based strategic planning done with genuine community  input.
If we are going to do strategic planning for the next 20 years let’s get the numbers right —by  how much are we actually likely to grow; how much housing stock do we already have; what is the shortfall and where should we grow?
The Far North Coast Regional Strategy of 2006 required council to prepare a Growth Management Strategy to meet a target of 2,600 new dwellings (104 per year) by 2031.
With no growth strategy we have delivered 200 new dwellings annually in that time so at this rate in three years we will have met the original 2031 targets.
It should be noted that Byron is the only shire in the Regions that met its dwelling targets yet it was not identified as a growth centre unlike neighbouring shires.
Despite having no overarching strategic plan, masses of new housing has already been approved — the  subdivisions of West Byron, Habitat, Bayside Brunswick, Seacliffs, Ballina Road, Carthona, and Coorabell add around 1,435 dwellings, most of which are yet to come online.
Added to what’s already been approved,  the Department of Planning’s revised target of 3,300 new dwellings by 2031 is almost already met.
The Residential Strategy considers new land releases at Mullumbimby Hospital site (for 30 dwellings), north of Mullumbimby (200), adjoining Tallowwood Estate (95), west of Tallowwood Estate (65), Stuart St Mullumbimby (100), Ann St Mullumbimby (150), Saddle Road (400), Billinudgel (60 dwellings), adjoining Bayside Brunswick (50), Ewingsdale Rd Byron Bay (20), Skinners Shoot (400+), Granuaille Cres Bangalow (10), and Ballina Road, Bangalow (85) — in total over 1600 dwellings. And all this without factoring in the land releases  proposed in the Rural Land Use Strategy.
In the four years between 2011-2015, 296 secondary dwellings were approved. In just one year, 2014-2015,  there were 134 secondary dwellings approved. Continuing this trend, across the next 15 years we would conservatively reach 1,110 new secondary dwellings  — most of which are now Air BnB holiday lets.
If you add it all up we don’t need more growth to house our people,  we need more homes. But that requires action on illegal holiday lets and that is another letter.
Cr Catherine Coorey, Byron Bay
Sixteen hundred new land releases does seem to be a lot. Though I do wonder how many new land releases per year it would average out to, if we counted all the new land releases approved by the Byron Shire Council over the last 25 years?
Somehow I suspect it would not work out to much more than whatever 1600 divided by 25 years is [64 per year].
Sometimes moving forward is not by going on the track that is in front of you but by doing a 360 degree turn and retreated back from the direction you came.
Growth requires Infrastructure. Maybe this word “Infrastructure” is a new word to Byron Councillors but we need infrastructure for growth to occur. There is already a lag in infrastructure.
For all this housing just where are the new roads, the sewerage, the sporting fields for the new children and their schools and libraries and clinics for the elderly and all the things that make up the support system for these new houses and the small shopping centres and the industrial estates to provide work and the service stations to put extra petrol in the cars that the families in the new housing will bring to Byron. Where is the new Council swimming pool for the new families as it is too far to walk to the ocean. How many millions of dollars is that that Byron Council does not have?
Moving forward? Which way is that? Moving forward is to provide for the people who are already in Byron. You then bring the people with you if you make them contented and wealthy and part of the system. The infrastructure for all this growth needs to be paid for? Does that not mean another rate rise?
When growth is out of hand and in a mess, then it is time to sit and think and do nothing. Why must we have growth?
Oh. I forgot, we need growth to pay for the infrastructure from the time before when we did not increase rates and now time gets faster and faster and time goes faster and then everyone is like a rat on a wheel running faster and faster to pay off things that should have been paid off 10 years ago.
Housing is to be put where the Mullumbimby Hospital was. What about putting in a retirement home. Just where are the old people going to go? Just kick them out of the Shire as there is no infrastructure for them. Is the cemetery full yet? No one surely can afford to die. Death reduces growth.