The Suffolk Park community are to be congratulated for making a stand for their community’s democratic rights and vision. They are correct in challenging the emergence of authoritarian NSW state structures that dictate only the rights of the developers and dismiss public rights. They are correct in appealing to members of the current Byron Council to maintain democratic representation and scrutiny on local developments that bend, dismiss, and impose inappropriate developments on their community. Such as that being asserted by Sydney-based developer Denwol in Suffolk Park.
However, a dark system is revealing itself and it pains me to write thus. It has been known for some time that the Land and Environment Court (L&EC) always favours capital over the environmental imperatives when it comes to decisions on developments. But are they given truthful information? A community knows when it has been denied an imperative right!
There exists in democratic societies an understanding, a democratic principle that respects and upholds ‘the will of the people’. From the ‘will of the people’ exceptional information can be gathered and acted upon. The Suffolk Park community have witnessed the manner in which public rights were dismissed in the granting of approval of the West Byron development, how Byron Council employed lawyers that went to the L&EC dismissing the protocols governing public rights.
The L&EC approved development on West Byron floodplain. The NSW premier has boldly announced, ‘There will be no developments on floodplains’, yet we witness currently the importation of tonnages of fill to enable this development. This fill will enhance further intense flooding to all surrounding communities in the future, a fact articulated by hydrologist Duncan Dey. Was there such a report offered to the L&EC? Does anyone really care?
Greater legal questions now confront all communities. There is no legality addressing risk and liability against future flood perils that will befall communities, yet no doubt such developments will occur in the future. Profit is blind.
Is the current authoritarian pro-development modus operandi of the NSW state government really worth the ongoing persecution of democratic communities who will continue fighting for the principles upholding the ‘will of the people and planet’? Collective empathy?
