The development application (DA) for the Iron Gates housing development outside Evans Head has been refused by the Northern Rivers Planning Panel (NRPP) and in a review by the Land and Environment Court (L&EC) the Registrar said it looked like a new DA compared to the one submitted nine years ago.
Yet the developers are continuing to pursue the multiply-amended version of the 2014 DA even though many of the latest amendments have not seen public scrutiny. At the Case Management Conference of the L&EC on Wednesday, 25 October the second respondent in the case (Simone Barker) pushed for the case to be dismissed altogether, but this request was rejected by the Court. Instead the case was rescheduled for hearing to the dates 3rd to the 14th of June 2024. The Hearing scheduled for this Friday was vacated with the Applicant to pay the costs of Richmond Valley Council and Simone Barker.
From Goldcoral to who?
It was Graeme Ingles of Goldcoral Pty Ltd who took the DA to the L&EC for review following its rejection by the NRPP in September 2022. Goldcoral Pty Ltd was then put into ‘administration’ and a new firm of lawyers, Corrs Chambers Westgarth took over legal proceedings in the L&EC on behalf of new clients. Those clients are thought to be ‘the money’ behind the Ingles development.
Public scrutiny
At Wednesday’s L&EC conference the lack of public scrutiny of the latest range of changes was raised by the solicitor acting for Richmond Valley Council (RVC) who pointed out that residents should have the opportunity to be heard. It appears that that opportunity is now available at next year’s June hearing.
Dr Richard Gates, spokesperson for Evans Head Residents for Sustainable Development, said today that the continuation of the Goldcoral matter beyond the ninth birthday of the original application raises serious questions about a number of matters including but not limited to:
- how many bites of the cherry an applicant should get for an amended DA,
- The enormous cost to the community in both money and time and related increased burden in insurance and infrastructure costs which will necessarily arise over time,
- The changing circumstances of an area zoned more than 40 years ago for residential development particularly when there are dramatic increases in fire and flood risk as climate change and ocean level rises bear down on coastal properties,
2023 Fire south of Evans River near Iron Gates area on the Dirawong Reserve, Bundjalung. Photo supplied The climate change legacy costs future generations who will have to bear for failure to acknowledge the changing and volatile environment where sea level rise of up to 5 metres from the rapid melting of the Western Ice Shelf of Antarctica will impact the site, not the middle-of-the-road, Scenario 3, sea level rise of 900mm Richmond Valley Council has chosen for its recently-adopted 2023 flood studies. Such a conservative decision is ‘kicking the can down the road’ and flies in the fact of intergenerational equity.
‘The Courts and various institutions now accept the evidence that climate change is with us and will affect us both environmentally and financially (see for example O’Donnell v Commonwealth of Australia [2023] FCA 1227,’ said Dr Gates.
‘The rapidly changing climate will put and is putting a strain on our infrastructure and other resources. The Lismore flood situation is a good example of what is unfolding. We are already falling short. The proposed Iron Gates development is caught up in climate change impacts and we can expect the development to “cost” the community in the long run.’
Dr Gates pointed out that ‘demand for fire services will increase, a demand which is already under pressure demonstrated by the difficulty NSW Fire & Rescue is having in recruiting and retaining part-time firefighters, particularly in small towns and regional areas.
‘The Iron Gates area is highly fire-prone and a high risk for firefighters because of its isolated location, a planning “no-no”. The recent 1300ha Dirawong/Bundjalung National Park fire just across the river from the Iron Gates should be a wake-up call. The notion put by the NRPP at its September 2022 hearing for “shelter in place” as an option for those who might live on the high-risk Iron Gates site is nonsense,’ he said.
‘The State government needs to step up and have the Iron Gates land rezoned from its current “Zombie Zoning” to a more appropriate setting which precludes residential development. They should look at buy-back of the site. There are a number of options here worthy of investigation.
‘The Iron Gates site would be an ideal spot for the government to demonstrate a concrete commitment to the “Nature Positive” recommendations of the independent review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 for environmental repair with the developer to foot the bill for damage already done in keeping with the 1997 L&EC Court Orders for remediation of the Iron Gates site and the requirements of “Designated Development” to which the site is subject.’
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