Thirteen courts cases since the 2000s and residents of Kingscliff and Tweed Shire Council accept that there is going to be significant disruption to their lives and amenity during the fill and developments of the residential developments at Chinderah. However, it is the severity of the impact of these activities on the community that was up for debate at Tweed Council’s planning meeting last Thursday.
There are predicted to be 32 trucks an hour for 44 weeks for development applications (DA) 20/0860 and 32 trucks per hour for 28 weeks for DA20/0965 if permission is given to bring in fill from the M1 for the sites.
The developer Gales Holdings already has approval to fill the site from the Land and Environment Court (L&EC). However, this designated they use sand from their quarry on the site to fill the land. Gales Holdings are now seeking to use free fill from works on the M1 so that they can then export and sell the sand from the quarry for profit.
Sever impact on Kingscliff
The alteration to the existing approvals would have a severe impact on the local community according to some councillors and the Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association (KRPA) Inc.
‘This will have an enormous impact on the community,’ said councillor Katie Milne at the meeting. ‘There have been over 100 submissions on this DA [20/0860].’
The significant increase in the use of double-B trucks accessing the sites from the M1 to bring in the fill, traffic congestion, noise, dust, vibrations, and road degradation were just some of the negative impacts on community amenity that were raised as issues for the community if the DAs were approved.
Councillor Ron Copper highlighted that there would be 147,000 truck movements on the coast road for one of the DAs and that this would not only impact the local community with people getting to work and school but that it would impact people right down the coast.
‘We shouldn’t impose those amenity issues so the developer can make a profit [by selling the sand],’ said Cr Cooper.
However, Councillor Pryce Allsop argued that there was going to be an impact on the community anyway with moving the sand across the sites from the sand quarry. He said that it was more sustainable to use the fill from the M1.
Responding to this Crs Milne and Cooper highlighted that bringing in fill from approximately 60km away would potentially introduce weeds and other risks like fire ants to the senstive site that would be avoided by using the existing sand.
Mayor Chris Cherry told the meeting that she has ‘major concerns about the amenity impacts of this proposal. I support a workshop to discuss amelioration.’
2,100 new houses
‘This is a significant development that has been on the cards since the mid to late 2000s,’ Peter Newton, president of KRPA told The Echo.
The development, by Gales Holdings, will include 2,100 new residences, parklands, business and education precincts, and expansion of the Kingscliff town centre across all their land holdings west of Kingscliff to the M1.
‘Our association accepts that the residential development is needed and will go ahead,’ said Mr Newton.
‘However, this should not be at further cost to the community.’
According to the detailed submission by KRPA, ‘The impact that the approval of this DA will have on Kingscliff and the surrounding communities should not be underestimated. Should this DA be approved it will cause significant negative impacts for many Kingscliff residents (particularly those residents of Noble Park and surrounding streets) and significant disruption for Kingscliff residents, visitors and businesses in general.’
Both DAs were amended to be deferred to be discussed at a workshop that will include Councillors, the proponent Gale Holdings, some local residents, and representatives from KRPA.
Goodbye Kingscliff hello developers why should they ruin paradise just to make a dollar.Kingy has changed so much in 10 years can’t imagine what’s it’s going to be like in another 10.
What did you people think would happen?
Don’t forget what is being & will be done to Cudgen.
Wow ! There goes the neighborhood.
What a joke tis is. The rainbow 4 as Crs Cherry, Milne, Cooper and Byrne are known as the rainbow 4. Many years ago Kings Forest housing estate was approved, these same councillors were happy to have the new Tweed Valley Hospital go there, thank goodness this did not happen and it is going up directly across from our TAFE College.
It is extremely offensive these Councillors are pushing the NIMBY attitude by trying to deny people the right to live, have their families and spend money in Kingscliff.
High rise, in excess of ten stories, is not appropriate for this area, adequate housing however is very much needed. My own views on building medium density buildings are extreme in that the building must recycle all water for reuse in gardens, have solar power for lifts, parking for 2 cars per household, natural cooling using plants etc. I am no Green, but buildings must be sustainable heading into the future.
The farm land surrounding Kingscliff is not as good as is made out simply due to the amount of rocks on the land, farmers who choose to sell their properties want the best price and land bankers will buy up this land.
If we stick with a 3 storey limit, farmland will end up as housing, it makes medium density more attractive alternative. Kingscliff was a village as the population was under 9,000 residents, now it is a town as the population has grown. Progress that is well managed and overseen is better than the alternative of willi nilli .
Really over assertations that people have the ‘right’ to do anything they wish to the detriment of environment, living conditions of others, and long term degradation of environment.
This garbled and obviously self interested comment from someone trying to appear to have the environment at least partly to heart instead aims to undermine Councillors’ efforts to maintain what is left of the natural environment in our fragile vally.
Anyone who fills, or supports filling of flood prone land in this region demonstrates their ignorance of a basic fact. When you fill one area flooding the the rest will be intensified, and natural balance will be lost.
At some point development will have to stop, or the natural environment will be completely lost. Our climatic troubles are already critical, it’s not sensible to make the situation worse.
Try to gather your thoughts a little more coherently, and learn a bit about water flows and flood events.
Kingscliff is already stuffed, so we cant hurt it anymore
Kingscliff is already ruined so bring on the development
Greed and ignorance. Everyone and everythings enemy.
Why oh why can’t Gales stick within the parameters set by the people of Kingscliff in the last development plan? it seems at every turn, the Gales company pushes and pushes for exceptions and exemptions, all to make more profit for themselves and at the detriment to the community. There is need for affordable housing but it doesn’t have to be any taller than the current limits set. Too much housing on too small an area will lead to infrastructure problems similar to what Byron Bay is facing. The council isn’t fighting back hard enough in my view…and why would they with the extra rates income coming in. I am so fed up with developers constantly pushing and pushing against boundaries we set, and getting away with it. For those who are as dismayed as I am about the haulage of fill from the works at the M 1, part of the approval came with the caveat that all complaints from residents to council would be acknowledged, logged and addressed. So…..it is up to us all who live here to complain about every inconvenience and annoyance created by this greedy cash grab.
Stop whinging, if you dont like it leave it
What about infrastructure????where is the water coming from …we already have issues around water
Jack, I believe you’re the one who should leave. Maybe Kingy doesn’t suit your “values” anyway?
well if they are to build houses they should be of a lifestyle size, 650+square foot print and single dwelling reducing the number of blocks other than the dog boxes they build living on top of each other like what they have allowed in Casuarina, with roads so narrow you cant park on them without cutting the access .living in boxes to get the rates for council and they are still broke.. this council is weak and will give into all developers wants…just look at the salt development, it was supposed to have a separate bridge coming in from TCR to stop the congestion in kingy….
Whatever your view there is one thing that is certain, Australia’s population will continue to increase and Tweed Coast will have to take it share. We all think Tweed Coast is the dream location and for that reason it attracts new residents.
The best thing is for the Local and State governments is to ensure water and essential infrastructure is ahead of the game. Then again “pigs might fly”.
All plans seam to be focussed on everything other than planning for increased population and the Council rates that would flow from that to provide the best facilities possible.