The latest proposals for major housing developments in West Byron have brought an avalanche of responses from the community, with the majority firmly opposing the plans.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Byron Shire Council said it had received more than 5,000 submissions in response to the two development applications that are currently under consideration for the urban release area.
‘The total number of submissions received is an extremely high number for Council and staff are now starting to work through them,’ the statement said.
‘Some of the matters raised so far include traffic, environmental impacts, koalas, stormwater, flooding, earthworks and design.’
‘Every submission will be read and the information noted and this will be collated into a report for the NSW Government’s Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP).’
It is the second time one of the two DA’s has been advertised.
While Byron Council was the recipient of the community submissions and will assess the two DA’s, the final decision over the future of West Byron is out of its hands.
That responsibility lies with the Joint Regional Planning Panel, a panel of State-government appointed adjudicators with no direct connection to the Byron Shire.
Council staff will assess the DAs on their merits and this information will form the basis of a report to the JRPP along with the public submissions.
The JRPP will be coming to the Byron Shire to hold a panel meeting on the West Byron proposals later this year.
It is obvious. Develop housing in western LGA – keep the coast as natural as possible.
Just get the rail infrastructure that supports people travelling in and out of the coastal LGA.
Get heavy freight of the roads with an alignment of the railway line omitting Byron and Murwillumbah, while using the old corridor for local passenger and light rail freight [to be locally designed]. Both merging at Chinderah into Queensland.
It’s a regional affair – for a regional body to work on – not for each council to do in isolation.
Northern Rivers – renamed Eastern Rivers – as part of an Eastern Territory, is the strategy for a terrible mangle of NSW politics and local parochialist thinking.