A staff report on a rezoning planning proposal for land around koala habitat at Durheim Road, Monaltrie Lane and Wyrallah Road in Monaltrie, came before councillors at last night’s monthly meeting of Lismore Council.
The staff recommendation was that Council not support progressing the rezoning proposal.
The major factor for discussion is the koala habitat within the area – during public access.
Speaking for koalas
Speaking for the staff recommendation was Ina Egermann from Friends of the Koala. ‘I support the recommendation of staff to refuse this in its entirety. As you all know, koalas in New South Wales are now listed as endangered, however experts in the field now consider they’re actually critically endangered.
‘We need to consider ourselves incredibly lucky because we still have a viable population in this area, one of the few in New South Wales and this isn’t just precious but it’s incredibly important from a species perspective.
‘As has been clearly stated by council planners, the land of Monaltrie contains core koala habitat.
Koalas, as a landscape species, are continuously moving through any landscape especially when young searching for a new home. They do not know the dangers that lurk within human suburbs and no matter what developers propose to keep them safe once they have left – no one police’s compliance,
A property owner’s view
Speaking against the refusal was Gail Munce who is one of the property owners involved in the project.
‘I’m here tonight to let you know that as a group, we’ve been working with council on this rezoning for several years and at all times have sought to work closely with council.
‘To find out that we are now recommended for refusal or, alternatively, only part of the land may potentially proceed, is distressing – distressing news given all the effort that has gone into this proposal date.
Ms Munce said what she finds most distressing is to hear that one option presented by staff in the council report, is that her land is not considered suitable to progress, as is not included in council’s growth realignment strategy of 2022. ‘Yet our land was in council’s growth management strategy, and this is why we originally worked with council and launched a planning proposal.
‘In regard to the environment, I do understand it is crucial to strike a balance between progress and preserving our natural heritage, including protection of koalas. However, the amended subdivision layout has been meticulously planned and designed to ensure that will be minimal impact on the koala population in the area.’
A past Lismore Council employee
Damian Licari, who between 2010 and 2017 was employed as council’s ecologist said he had been very involved in the project at that time. ‘Then, as team leader of environmental strategies, I led the team that was responsible for producing Lismore’s BMS (Biodiversity Management Strategy) and the rural landholder initiative since 2017.
‘I’d like to now draw Council’s attention to the Koala Beach residential development that’s located within the Tweed LGA. Koala Beach was designed to ensure wildlife and habitats within and around this high-density residential development continued into the future.
Mr Lacari spoke of mitigation measures used at Koala Beach such as the prohibition of dogs; 40 kilometre per hour road speed limits; warning signage and traffic calming measures and roads; as well as koala-friendly fencing being employed at the subdivision stage.’
‘The prescriptions to mitigate impacts on koalas in this estate, are the very exemplar of how wildlife and habitats can be preserved along high-density residential development.
‘These are the same prescriptions that the council report indicates are not workable. Koala Beach is a model for how wildlife and habitats can be preserved alongside low-density residential developments in Lismore, and I see no reason why the proposal shouldn’t proceed to the next phase of the gateway process.
Cr Gordon’s alternate resolution
During the debate Cr Andrew Gordon proposed an alternate resolution to the staff refusal – even though on another proposal he complained that: ‘The staff have prepared a report. They’ve obviously sat down and looked at this long and hard and come up with some solutions as a result of other things, and we sit down tonight and we’re going to rewrite it?’
Cr Gordon hoped his alternative resolution be adopted.
His motion moved that:
1. officers finalise the Planning Proposal and submit it to the Department of Planning an Environment for Gateway Determination.
2. proceed to public exhibition of the Planning Proposal in accordance with any requirements of a Gateway determination
3. officers report back to Council upon completion of the public exhibition.
Cr Gordon said for 20 years the chamber has been very good at saying ‘no’. ‘We’ve heard tonight from an ecologist employed by this chamber, that there’s an alternative.
‘There’s always alternatives. We don’t explore them well enough. We never have. This is an alternative – this is an opportunity to explore those alternatives.
‘I suggest I proposed that we explore those alternatives.’
Council has worked pretty hard
Cr Vanessa Ekins spoke against Cr Gordon’s alternate resolution. ‘Cr Gordon says this chamber is very good at saying “no”. Well, I refute that.
‘Council’s worked pretty hard to make sure that we’ve got nearly 4,000 housing lots available on flood-free land – land that’s either rezoned or in the process of rezoning. We know that, we know it’s been land-banked and the people who own those developments have been sitting on it for some time.
‘We’ve got growth management strategies that identify that we have adequate housing lots for decades ahead.
‘We don’t need this land that is isolated. It’s not in our strategies and its core koala habitat. We don’t need it. And it’s not the affordable housing that we know we need in this community.
‘We know our population is ageing and people want small homes. These are large lots that require significant maintenance and they’re high and it’s high-end real estate. It’s not what we need to look after our community.
Innovative planning
‘I’m really concerned about the so-called “innovative planning” matters to enable development to coexist with koalas. We know that housing developments kill koalas, cars kill koalas, dogs kill koalas, and pools kill koalas.
Cr Ekins said that once you rezone and start letting that development happen, the koalas are gone.
‘Some of the examples that were cited like Koala Beach. We know there are packs of roaming dogs that go through Koala Beach. That has been documented by the people who live at that community – every time they ring up to complain about it.
‘Koala Beach is an abysmal failure in terms of koalas.’
Back after six years
Cr Adam Guise said he found it bizarre that this issue is coming back some six years later. ‘As far as I’m concerned, we did make a decision and that was to reject this planning proposal.
Among other things, Cr Guise said that the proposed ‘large lot residential’
‘This is about a large-lot residential development on the outskirts of Lismore some four kilometres from the CBD, it does not accord with our growth management strategy is not in our growth management strategy.
‘Large lot residential means mostly mown grassland. It doesn’t mean mature koala feed trees. It means a broader spiderweb of roads to get to and from the lots, which creates more impacts and threats to koalas.
A koala killing development
‘It’s very telling that the decision that councillors made in this chamber to vote down 226 Invercauld Road – that koala killing development, that we in this chamber said “no” to, was upheld by the Land and Environment Court.
I would have those councillors that want to proceed with another koala killing development to pay heed to that $200,000-plus court case which we won. We were vindicated on that.
‘So please listen to the science. Listen to the professionals, listen to the community and stop going down the path of bulldozing koala habitat.’
Mayor Krieg took a vote and Cr Gordon’s motion was carried with Councillors
Gordon, Colby, Hall, Jensen, Bing, Rob and Krieg in favour and those against: Councillors Bird, Ekins, Cook and Guise.
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