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.
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