A contentious large-scale housing/industrial proposal for land opposite the Byron industry estate on Ewingsdale Road will be determined by the Joint Regional Planning Panel next month.
The meeting will be held on Monday October 8 at Byron Shire Council’s Mullumbimby chambers at 1pm and is open to the public.
The proposal for 387 lots includes 378 residential, two business, two industrial, one recreation and four residue lots. It has been fiercely opposed by many residents and councillors; around 5,000 submissions were received, say Council staff, which were mostly against. It will be decided by the Northern Regional Planning Panel, an unelected panel that determines large-scale developments in NSW.
To speak at the meeting, contact the Planning Panel’s Secretariat before 4pm on Thursday October 4 on (02) 8217 2060 or email [email protected].
The Road to Oblivion: What is not in contention here is Ewingsdale Road itself, when just one day ago there was an article about the Butler Street Bypass that is deemed or not deemed to relieve the traffic debacle that backs up on the entire length of Ewingsdale Road? We are now coming into summer, into the holiday season, when Ewingsdale Road will be gridlocked by tourist traffic getting into Byron Bay.
That Butler Street awkward discussion is in the courts and being decided by the law.
Ewingsdale Road needs to be four lanes, two lanes either way as it is part of the infrastructure of the Byron Shire and the road needs to be worked on and upgraded and finished before the estates begin.
Well, we know that is not going to happen because the mayor Simon Richardson is hand-balling the Butler Street Bypass issue in what is legitimate public concern back to the instigators of that concern. The public are sick and tired of being blocked in their protest for good town planning. The wetlands are going to be irreparably damaged in a place renowned for its nature and natural environment and Ewingsdale Road is going to become a parking lot yet again as cars on it come to a stand-still and begin creeping forward one car at a time on the whole length of the road.
It is ludicrous to consider these huge estates without upgrading Ewingsdale Road as that road is a problem right now without an extra house being built.
This meeting will only consider the “local landowners” DA. The JRPP sat they are only considering one DA because Council haven’t completed their assessment of Villaworlds – it is tentatively due for consideration in November. Council have recommended this first DA for refusal. I suspect the JRPP will go along with this recommendation to gain credibility, but then later approve the Villaworld DA, allowing the local landholders to come back with a modified DA for approval.