Yesterday’s Ballina Shire Council meeting saw accusations and insults hurled across the chamber as councillors split down the middle on the contentious issue of conservation zones.
The question boils down to whether rural landowners should be able to decide for themselves if there are C zones on their properties, (‘opting in’), or whether these areas should be identified in collaboration with council staff on the basis of evidence and negotiation, as part of the modernisation and integration of rural zones.
Progressive councillors brought on a rescission motion in an attempt to undo the previous (very tight) decision to support opt in C zones, noting that council staff and the Department of Planning and Environment have expressed concerns about Ballina Council’s direction on the issue.
Conservation or conservation zones?
There was a surprising deputation from koala activist Maria Matthes, who said, ‘I almost can’t believe that I am speaking against conservation zones, but this is about conservation and not conservation zones.’ She suggested that inconsistencies in the application of conservation zones risked alienating landholders, with potentially negative implications for wildlife corridors, especially when weedy areas are identified as holding conservation value.
‘I would like to see Ballina Council go back to where it should have been 11 years ago, with the new biodiversity strategy in hand, and bring landholders along for the biodiversity conservation journey,’ she said.
During the following debate, Cr Jeff Johnson said he’d seen some bad decisions on council over his last fifteen years, ‘but the proposal to make a major decision on property zoning classifications before the end of an extensive public consultation period, or reporting back to council, has to be one of the worst.’
He said the recent feedback from the state government indicated that the new approach failed every test. ‘I’m shocked at the way this final process has been hijacked; that proper process isn’t being allowed to be followed.’
Cr Johnson said council staff had already alleviated concerns about C zones from Cr Eva Ramsey and others, when they made it clear ‘that no existing farming practices or areas would be impacted, or would be proposed to be impacted by the zoning review.’
Describing himself as a practical environmentalist with a family background in farming, Cr Johnson said concerns about weedy areas being inappropriately protected had also been addressed, with aerial vegetation mapping to be followed by more detailed analysis on the ground.
‘I don’t believe any councillor at this table wants to stop existing farming operations within the shire,’ he said. Cr Johnson said it was totally inappropriate for many years of work from staff to be halted due to a 50/50 split decision of councillors. ‘The casting vote of the mayor, in my opinion, is a total misuse of that important role.’
Jeff Johnson then described the advice from the Department of Planning in response as ‘damning’, with negative implications for the high conservation value land adjoining Burns Point Ferry road (recently nominated for C Zone protection, and the subject of a law suit from the developer, GemLife).
He said that if the rescission motion was unsuccessful, then Ballina Council would be brought ‘into further disrepute, costing ratepayers even more money.’
Conservation and agriculture
Cr Rod Bruem argued that according to his understanding of state law, C zones and agriculture were not compatible. This was refuted by staff member Matt Wood, who said ‘it is possible to have conservation zones and still have some agricultural land uses as the council sees fit.’
Matt Wood went on to say there were numerous examples of other NSW councils successfully applying C zones, including cases of co-existence between agriculture and conservation uses.
Cr Eoin Johnston asked whether it was true that if the rescission motion was not adopted, there was a risk of the Burns Point Ferry Road land becoming available for development again. Matt Wood said that was a matter for the Department of Planning. After further questions he said, ‘I think what the department is saying is that they are concerned about making two zoning decisions on conservation matters based on inconsistent principles.’
Cr Ramsey asked about how the opt in system worked in Lismore, and was told there were a number of ‘deferred areas’ in the neighbouring shire, with the state government disagreeing with Lismore Council about conservation values in those sites.
Cr Phil Meehan then spoke forcefully for the rescission motion. He said the Lismore opt in process was clearly a failure and ‘pinning ourselves to that model is flawed.’
He suggested those on the other side had ‘very poor comprehension skills’ to not understand what the DPE was telling them, going on to describe their proposal as inappropriate in terms of process, approach and governance.
Ashamed, insults fly
‘For the last three weeks, I didn’t want to come here after the last meeting,’ said Cr Meehan. ‘I was somewhat ashamed of what occurred as a community member… We’re here to make informed decisions. The resolution that stands is not an informed decision. It’s a decision based on principle, where the information is put aside.
‘That’s not what being a good councillor is about, right? I’ll be completely blunt about it. The current resolution gives a small group of landholders in our community a power and an option that is not available to other members across our community.’
Cr Meehan said people living in other zones didn’t have the option of opting in or out of land uses as it suited them. ‘How can we possibly think our community will have faith in us if we give a small group of people rights which the whole community don’t have access to? I just can’t see how anybody can think that’s fair or appropriate.’
Cr Meehan said he was also concerned about the legality of council’s revised C Zone approach.
Cr Rod Bruem than made a speech about how there were two types of environmentalists, dismissing those he described as ‘desktop environmentalists’, such as people who wrote letters to the ‘green left’ Echo.
‘The farmers in this shire have suffered enough,’ he said, claiming all he was seeking to do was follow ‘the Lismore model’. He described his opponents as pursuing an ‘extremist approach’.
Cr Meehan took issue with this, saying there was nothing extremist about staff preparing a report following an exhibition. Things became more heated, with Cr Bruem forgetting to switch on his microphone, which was probably just as well.
Cr Meehan called on Mayor Cadwallader to ‘control her meeting’.
Cr Kiri Dicker pointed out that Mayor Cadwallader was being inconsistent in pulling up some people for language and not others, before asking for her to request an apology from ‘your own councillor’ Rod Bruem, for calling his opponents extremists. Cr Cadwallader then requested an apology from Cr Dicker for suggesting Bruem was her ‘own’ councillor.
Ripple effects
Eventually things got back to the question at hand. Cr Chate said the zoning issue would affect Ballina Council’s planning powers into the future. ‘There are several significant issues at play. Firstly we need to acknowledge the countless hours of dedicated work council’s expert staff have put in addressing each individual submission and putting their collective mind to the problem.
‘They’ve been working really hard all year to try and find the right balance between addressing landowner concerns and protecting our vulnerable environment into the future. They haven’t been looking for a carrot or a stick. They’ve been looking to find a win win.’
He noted the significant compromises that had already been made to assuage the concerns of some landholders. ‘We also need to listen to the advice in the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in their strongly worded letter,’ he said.
‘They note inconsistencies between the opt in model and our unanimous decision to apply a C2 zone to the Burns Point Ferry Road wetland site. The DPE states that these two decisions are contradictory and lacking in planning,’ said Cr Chate.
‘Madam Mayor, it’s entirely feasible that today the future of the Burns Point Ferry Road wetlands will rest in your hands, and now that you’re the casting vote, there is a very real likelihood that should the opt in model be successful, council will no longer be able to rezone any sites of high ecological value for conservation, unless that landowner opts in.’
He then said, ‘By embracing this opt in model we reassure some landowners but render ourselves as a council almost powerless when it comes to acting for environmental protection.’
Mayor Cadwallader later defended her use of the casting vote, declaring she was supporting the status quo and would ‘vote for common sense every day of the week.’
In terms of the Burns Point Ferry Road land, she said the C2 zoning had not been accepted by the state government, and that the relevant DA was in the hands of the Northern Rivers Regional Planning Panel, so the ‘flood of emails’ from Burns Point Ferry Road residents to council were misdirected.
‘There’s misleading information getting out there telling people things that aren’t true!’ said Cr Cadwallader.
Reckless, unworkable and lacking in transparency
Cr Kiri Dicker then said, ‘I spoke quite strongly last month about all of the reasons why conservation zones are important and why native vegetation is inadequately protected from clearing under the current state government legislative framework…
‘My final words to you then were that this motion is reckless, unworkable and lacking in transparency. Well, I hate to say I told you so, but it turns out that it is. DPE have now confirmed that the proposed resolution is unworkable and inconsistent with the Northern Zones Review.’
Cr Dicker accused Mayor Cadwallader and her supporters of persisting with an ideological opposition to conservation zones, against the will of half of the council, against the advice of senior staff, and against the advice of the state government. ‘How many more red flags do you want that this probably isn’t going to end well?’
She then said Mayor Cadwallader would need the shovel she was gifted earlier in the week (by the wildlife hospital) ‘to dig yourself out of this mess, if this rescission doesn’t pass. We’re heading for statewide embarrassment here.’
Cr Dicker said that landowners agreed that a case by case solution was required, ‘which is exactly what we’re trying to do.’ She said that there would likely be a worst outcome for them if the process was taken out of council’s hands by the state government.
‘The best we can hope for here, if we persist with this, is that the contested land will be deferred. It is just kicking it down the road to a future council,’ she said.
‘I also wanted to make some comments on the Lismore model, and I think Cr Bruem might have found himself elected to the wrong council.’ Cr Dicker noted that Lismore had 360 hectares of affected land compared to 2,600 hectares in Ballina, which would mean that if a similar levy was involved, Ballina residents would have to pay seven times more.
In terms of the wider issue, she said, ‘This is making a fool of us and I’m embarrassed really to be part of a council that thinks that this is a good idea.’
Really shocked
Cr Jeff Johnson said, ‘Council should be working with land owners, not outsourcing our decision-making role to individuals… This council shouldn’t be outsourcing our responsibilities. What next, do we let landholders in residential areas determine their own height limits or density?
‘I believe this council has gone rogue and should be sacked and placed into administration,’ he said. ‘If we reject the planning laws and guidelines that we are required to follow, then we shouldn’t be here… I’m just really shocked.’
Cr Johnson then said it was an abuse of power for the mayor to use her casting vote to go against planning guidelines, describing this approach to planning decisions as ‘absolutely disgraceful’.
Cr Rod Bruem then sprang to the defence of the mayor, describing this as a personal attack. Mayor Cadwallader agreed, asking Cr Johnson to retract his comments. Jeff Johnson said he wasn’t retracting anything. Apparently furious, the mayor called a snap 15 minute recess.
When the councillors returned, Mayor Cadwallader again called on Jeff Johnson to apologise for ‘casting aspersions’. He asked what comment he was supposed to apologise for.
She said he would take a vote that he would removed from the meeting if he didn’t apologise for offending her. ‘You know very well what you said and I will ask you just one more time before I take a vote whether you should be removed from the meeting.’
Cr Johnson eventually apologised (for what, exactly, was never made clear), before the rescission motion failed along the same lines as the original motion, with Mayor Cadwallader again using her additional casting vote to get her way, along with Councillors Buchanan, Johnston, Ramsey, and Bruem. The other five councillors were opposed.
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