Yesterday Ballina Shire Council decided not to apply a Conservation Zone to the contentious flood-prone land adjoining Burns Point Ferry Road, in West Ballina, which GemLife is seeking to develop for housing.
The meeting opened with depositions from Darren McKenzie, development manager for GemLife, and local resident Dr Marilyn Chaseling.
Mr McKenzie said GemLife wanted to see the endangered ecological communities on the site protected but also wanted to deliver much needed housing in Ballina. He said that the developer had redesigned the project since its rejection by the Land and Environment Court, and argued that introducing Conservation Zones would set a ‘concerning precedent’ for other Ballina landholders.
Dr Marilyn Chaseling drew attention to the high conservation value of the land in question with a Powerpoint presentation, including photos of a number of locally represented endangered species.
She then described the neighbouring human occupants as ‘people with big hearts with big dreams’ who had suffered greatly from the 2022 flooding and were concerned about the impacts of the GemLife development if the site remained in zoning limbo, without conservation protection.
Dr Chaseling reminded councillors of the high level of public opposition to the development.
GemLife
The zoning can of worms for the land in question was originally opened by former Mayor David Wright, who used his casting vote to give developers a chance to do something with the site. Since then, mounds have been built, slashing has happened and various temporary structures have appeared and disappeared, interspersed by large areas of the site going underwater at various times.
GemLife’s latest proposal is currently with the Regional Planning Panel, putting it technically out of the control of Ballina Council, apart from the provision of technical reports.
While most staff and most councillors remain firmly opposed to the idea, GemLife say they will only be impacting the northern section of the block, and not the more environmentally sensitive area further south.
Cr Rod Bruem said he shared Ballina Council’s view about the GemLife project, but was concerned about Conservation Zones and how they might be implemented. ‘This is about property rights,’ he said. ‘Either you respect them or you don’t.’
Cr Kiri Dicker responded by saying, ‘In terms of decisions that we’re going to make as an elected council, this one is as serious as it gets.’ She said the ability for councils to protect land through zoning had been a centerpiece of the state’s modern planning system since 1979.
‘Conservation zones or environmental zones are the primary legal mechanism by which councillors can protect land that is high in biodiversity values,’ said Cr Dicker. ‘The context in which we make these decisions is significant. Our shire has the lowest percentage of native vegetation cover of any council in NSW…
‘We must make planning decisions in the public interest,’ she said. ‘Imagine a planning system that made decisions only based on what land holders want? We wouldn’t have any conservation zones.’
Evolving understanding
Cr Dicker said the ongoing controversy over the land at Burns Point Ferry Road told a story about evolving understanding of development in ecologically sensitive and floodplain areas, with the Land and Environment Court’s rejection of 230 homes on the site being rejected for reasons ‘so compelling and so extensive, that once you read them, it’s hard to do anything else other than support the protection of this land.’
Cr Dicker said the site had been subject to eight ecological studies, all showing that it’s rich in biodiversity and provided critical habitat for a range of flora and fauna.
While saying he was sympathetic to the concerns of local residents, Cr Eoin Johnston spoke in favour of deferral on conservation zoning, suggesting it could be a precedent for broader controversies within the shire.
‘I’m not an ecologist by any means,’ he said, ‘but I think it’s a bit a bit rubbish to say this is all precious native habitat.’ Cr Johnson suggested that local residents were more motivated by selfish reasons than ecological concerns, but later withdrew these remarks.
Speaking against the idea of a deferral, Cr Phillip Meehan said ‘it makes sense to me to have the appropriate zoning on the land now, rather than us having to be back here in two years time and doing this whole thing again.’
At the same time, he accepted the main decision was in the hands of the Department of Planning.
Zoning
Cr Simon Chate reminded councillors that the NSW Government had brought in Conservation Zones in December 2021, with Ballina Shire lagging well behind state averages in terms of environmentally protected areas and biodiversity, and 95% of local respondents in a recent survey saying they were ‘concerned or very concerned about biodiversity’.
He argued that implementation of Conservation Zones would bring Ballina Council into a stronger position to negotiate with landowners and to conserve areas of high environmental value into the future. This is a way ‘to say to the community that our environment is important to us,’ he said.
Cr Chate reminded councillors that during the exhibition period for the GemLife development, there were 45 submissions opposed and only one in favour of the project. He argued that the site was perfectly placed to be Ballina’s first conservation zone.
Wardell’s Cr Nigel Buchanan said ‘Conservation zones scare the hell out of me’, saying he would vote for deferral. Cr Eva Ramsey said that it was important to protect the wetland but she would also vote for deferral on applying zoning to do that, as the NSW government currently had the call on the future of the site.
Mayor Sharon Cadwallader said, ‘deferral is not going to make any difference, so I’m going to support it.’
Despite a staff recommendation to add a Conservation Zone to the land in question, Ballina Council ultimately decided to ignore this and voted to defer the matter. Those who chose this path were Crs Johnston, Buchanan, Ramsey, Bruem and Cadwallader.
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