Cudgen Creek is being ‘loved to death’ and it is putting people at risk say locals. Councillor James Owen will be bringing the issue to the attention, again, of other councillors while Cr Dr Nola Firth will be looking at the importance of cool towns and ageism.
Cudgen Creek – Kingscliff
Development of the Cudgen Creek Masterplan was approved in February 2021 but has yet to be started leaving the Kingscliff community frustrated and highlighting the risks to people using the area as well as the negative environmental impacts. The issue was brought to Council’s 18 May meeting but was deferred for a councillor workshop.
At this afternoon’s Council meeting, Cr Owen will be moving a Notice of Motion (NoM) to prioritise the ‘Cudgen Creek Masterplan so that community engagement and masterplan can commence in June 2023’.
He is also seeking to extend ‘ the scope for the area covered by the masterplan to include the creek and surrounding areas from Sutherland Street Bridge to the mouth of the Creek on both sides of the creek’.
What works can be dropped or postponed?
Council staff have previously said that to bring the masterplan forward they would have to defer other programs due to limited staff resources and funding. The staff have estimated that financial and other resourcing commitments for this project would be in the order of $250k.
Staff have said that, ‘we can commence the community engagement and master planning in September this year’ but have made it clear that they are ‘ heavily dependent on funding through grants’ so could not provide a date for undertaking any works.
They have also reiterated that to undertake and complete works before the next holiday season would be challenging and require the reprioritisation of other projects.
Council staff has outlined the following ten programs that councillors can choose to defer: 1. Goorimahbah Place of Stories Stage 2; 2. Recreation Park – District Playground and Public Toilet; 3. Ray Pascoe Park – Playground Upgrade and Public Toilet; 4. Jack Evans Boat Harbour – Places to Swim Project; 5. Outdoor Youth Recreation Action Plan; 6. Uki Mountain Bike Park; 7. Pottsville Open Space Masterplan; 8. Burringbar – Masterson Park Concept Design; 9. Jack Evans Boat Harbour – Places to Love Project; or 10. Sport and Active Recreation Strategy.
Community safety
Councillor Pwen has told The Echo that he has ‘major concerns for community safety in and around Cudgen Creek and I’m disappointed that the council staff have seemingly kicked the can down the road in relation to the Cudgen Creek masterplan for more than two years now.
‘I accept that there is significant pressure on council resources and budgets at the moment, and developing a full masterplan is unlikely for some time to come, however, there are some significant safety concerns that I believe need addressing as a matter of priority. Therefore, I’ll be moving an amendment to my Notice of Motion to request an urgent report with respect to issues on and around Cudgen Creek that pose a potential safety risk to the community and a potential liability to council. I will ask that the report include solutions to address the issues, a timeline for implementation, budget considerations and that council staff engage with community representatives, including the Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association, when compiling the report,’ he said
‘Whilst there are many competing priorities and projects that council staff are working to deliver my question to council staff is, “Which of those projects or priorities could result in an accident or harm to a member of our community if not delivered. My fear is that if the issues at Cudgen Creek are not addressed soon someone could be seriously hurt, or worse.’
Cool Towns and Ageism
Councillor Dr Nola Firth is bringing a number of NoMs to the meeting including one on ‘Ageism’ and another on the ‘Cool Towns’ policy.
‘I have spoken to a number of people in our community about seminars for the general public on addressing ageism and many of the older people get quite excited about the idea,’ she told The Echo.
Cool Towns
The Cool Towns policy, Cr Firth says, needs funding to be able to move forward.
‘I am really keen that we have a budget to support the cool town’s program. It is increasingly important that we are prepared for the coming heat. We know that heat is going to be a bigger killer than floods or bushfires and cool towns policies are being picked up by many councils.’
The Community Education Officer for cool towns was appointed earlier this year and currently has no budget.
‘Though money is very tight I am hoping we can find enough to get her started,’ said Cr Firth.
‘An important part of the cool town’s policy is about valuing our local environment particularly because our biodiversity is under threat. We need local native species in our urban forests because we are this internationally significant environment and we have the most threatened species in Australia. So we need to include our urban areas in our biodiversity.
‘We know the value of trees now and the fact that they increase property values, reduce pollution and erosion, increase carbon storage, improve mental health and that is before you take into account their importance to native species and biodiversity in the region.’
Education and access to information including what native species can be planted is a key aim of funding this position as well as buying and planting plants to reduce things like the urban heat island effect.
‘Online and booklet information for new residents will inform them that they are required to plant 80 per cent natives and help them reduce the weed species being planted. It will remind them that the nature strips belong to council and that there are big fines for removing native trees. Science tells us that even a few trees planted together can have a remarkable impact and begin to reduce temperatures by three degrees or more. It is very effective.’
The Tweed Council meeting starts at 3.30pm today at the Harvard Room, Tweed Heads Administration Office following open access. You can watch the livestream here.
Re: Councillor Firth’s comments regarding ‘cool towns’ and ‘addressing ageism’. Am I reading it correctly in so much that I think it states that Council have already appointed a community education officer for ‘COOL TOWNS’ earlier this year, yet there is no budget allocated for them to do anything ?? what are they doing then ? why is the brief to an already appointed staff member reliant upon the success or otherwise of a Notice of Motion ? surely this cannot be the case ?
Also, why is this work, if it is actually ‘neccessary’, not being allocated to the multitude of already employed, Landscape Design, Environmental Assessment, Environmental Engineering staff employed on a full time basis. Im not sure if this is confusing journalism or just a pure demonstration of the ongoing inefficiencies of local politics / local government or both ?
What is clear to everyone is that the continued focus by Councillors and Council staff on matters such as ‘Cool Towns’ and ‘Addressing Ageism’ (as examples only) just diverts attention away from the fact that this Council continues to blatantly prioritise their own pet projects rather than put their heads down and try to address the real matters that they are meant to be in charge of (anyone vote for a Councillor on the basis of addressing ageism ? indeed, does anyone think that Council should even be involved in spending money on addressing ageism ?. Why not focus on the council’s actions on matters such as their recent decision (despite such obvious cost of living issues) to seek a Special Rate Increase (no wonder they want more given that we appear to have people employed with no actual money to allow them to do anything), or their continued ‘no or slow’, but never ‘go’ approach to the release of housing land (affordable or otherwise), or their continued ‘no, low and slow’, but never ‘go’ approach to adequately providing for capacity (the ability to connect) with respect to essential services (water and sewer) to cater for additional housing. Fact is that this Council continues to relaese housing strategy after housing strategy (inc. the upcoming affordable housing strategy) that are all effectively worthless because the same Council hasnt provided for the services to facilitate the reccomendations of their own strategies. it is essentialy the definiton of stupidity, and if it is not this, then at the very least it represents an avoidable waste of ratepayers money (at the same time they are asking for more). So, yep, get stuck in trying to find funding for ‘Cool Towns’ and ‘ Addresssing Ageism’, but please, please, please put it in the line with what should otherwise really be the priority matters to be addressed by this Council…….such as ………..justification of current expenditure -v- the need for the current request for more rates (have you really all done that good a job to date to justify a request for more?), …………….Council’s actual impacts / efforts on addressing housing affordabilty,…….housing land supply, ………employment land supply……………
Strategies dont fix things… Actions do.. So please Act.
Cr Owen gets points for grandstanding and ignoring due process.
Sadly unless ratepayers want to pay more we have to accept that works are scheduled according to funding and availability of labour.
Cool, concern for community safety in and around the creek is ‘grandstanding’. Good thing none of the other councillors shared your view.