Have you been watching the gradual decline of Mullum over the years?
Less attention to curbs and gutters? Virtually no improvements to drainage after a catastrophic flood?
An increase in traffic, less parking? Poorly thought out town planning? It’s a busy little place, and one which has become full to capacity.
For someone who went to high school here, and one who has lived here for many years, it seems that the focus of the current elected councillors isn’t about making this place a great place to live.
Instead, there appears a desperate agenda of ad hoc, pie-in-the-sky ‘affordable’ development thought bubbles which go against good planning principles.
While ‘Making Council Great Again’ could be a matter of waiting until the September 2024 elections, how can Mullum become a better place to live?
All the dumb things
First up: Stop doing dumb things.
Proposing to develop on flood-plains is clearly in the realms of idiocy, and the NSW Labor government promised they wouldn’t do that if elected in March.
Yet this Thursday, councillors will gather to presumably give this dumb idea passage through its Housing Options Paper.
As reported this week, this significant document was presented to the community with a myriad of issues, and lacks transparency and certainty.
A plan for up to 6,695 new homes to be constructed, much of it around Mullum and Bruns over the next 20 years, is way beyond the target even set by the state government – they requested 4,522 new homes (8,590 people).
Council’s rationale is that some land parcels will be later found to be unsuitable. So why propose it in the first place?
Councillors, led by Mayor Michael Lyon, are proposing foolish floodplain development because back in August, then-Sydney-based Deputy Secretary NSW Planning, Marcus Ray threatened Council he would take their precious planning powers away because of its poor performance in approving DAs.
A poorly baked pavlova
Instead of defending themselves, they collapsed like a poorly baked pavlova. Were they protecting their thin political hides or representing the community’s wishes?
Another sure way to ruin any small town on a floodplain is to jack up the height limits.
Increased density has now magically appeared in the Housing Options Paper, thanks to bold and fearless leadership by senior staff. Without evidence, they say it’s what the community wants. But is it?
It’s not what has been supported in the past. It’s the sort of thing that should be an election pledge, not a half-assed gambit by those without any accountability.
So councillors – please stop ignoring the Mullum masterplan (as inadequate as it is) and stop proposing to cram shit developments in tight spaces. Create more open spaces. And improve parking.
Just stop ruining the joint.
Make Mullum better instead.
Better shire planning could be developing on flood-free open spaces that could provide small hamlet-style villages. There is a bit of that land in Byron Shire.
That way, these councillors who are desperate to suck up to developers and the state government can show us how that model can produce good planning outcomes.
Hans Lovejoy, editor
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