We’re writing to add our voice to the views of those opposed to Byron Council’s decision to support the planning proposal to permit a rural community title subdivision of 15 x 3,000m2 neighbourhood lots at 31 Alidenes Road (Echo, 13 June).
As the owners of a 10 acre property directly behind this land, our only access to our property is by a 300m x 10m wide right of carriageway (RoC) directly through the proposed development. We therefore have an intimate knowledge of the property in question. We strongly believe the land can only support a fraction of the 15 neighbourhood lots proposed.
We believe that the developers, who are a Sydney-based investment company, are simply attempting to maximise their return on investment by gaining approval for as many allotments as they can possibly achieve, so that they can sell them off for a tidy profit.
Yankee Creek and the associated feeder watercourses wind through this property for at least 1.2km, so much of this land is flood prone, as we can attest to, with our access road flooding in heavy rain events at least once a year, preventing vehicle access to our property.
With no reticulated water and sewerage systems available in this area, each of the 15 proposed lots would require its own sewerage treatment system. As such, there is a significant risk of contamination of both Yankee Creek and the local groundwater if this proposal proceeds, thus affecting the many bores in the area and the local river system.
Our calculations indicate that the riparian buffer zones that would be required for Yankee Creek and the associated watercourses would alone account for over half of the total 30 acres of land in question.
If you include other areas that would not be suitable for subdivision, such as a number of steep ridgelines in the western portions of the site, the 300m x 10m RoC, and other easements on the property, plus service roads that would be required to access the proposed 15 lots, the land available for subdivision shrinks to less than 25 per cent (7.5 acres) of the total land area.
We are particularly disappointed in the manner in which the Council has dealt with this proposal. They have never advised nor consulted us, nor other local residents we have spoken to, for such a significant development, even though the original proposal has been with Council in some form for a number of years.
Apparently the original proposal was rejected by the NSW Department of Planning, as it did not do enough to prevent the developer from building more than 15 dwellings on the site.
Leveda and Ross Smith
Wilsons Creek
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