Yesterday the NSW Planning Panel unanimously rejected GemLife’s proposal for a major ‘seniors living’ development on a flood prone site on Burns Point Ferry Road, West Ballina.
The application consisted of 148 apartments, community facilities, as well as over 300,000 cubic metres of fill. The site is located beside the junction of Emigrant Creek and the Richmond River.
Some of the key reasons for the refusal included the adverse impact on the local environment including EECs (Endangered Ecological Communities) which cover the majority of the site, unacceptable impacts on local flooding, and stormwater management.
Ballina’s Cr Jeff Johnson says the panel found that the reports provided as part of the assessment process were totally inadequate and did not address many of the key issues related to the site and the surrounding area.
Site inspection
‘Being one of Ballina Council’s delegates on the NSW Planning Panel provided me with the opportunity to attend a site inspection with other panel members as well as Council’s senior technical team that included engineers, an ecologist, planners as well as other environmental officers,’ said Cr Johnson.
‘During the inspection we observed a stormwater pipe that discharges into Emigrant Creek. This pipe would have been a key stormwater release point for the proposed development.
‘At the time of the inspection the stormwater pipe was half submerged and would be fully submerged during high tide events.
‘This was just one example of why development on this site is not suitable and would have impacts on localised flooding,’ he said.
This site has previously been the subject of a legal case that has cost Ballina ratepayers over one million dollars, and is also the subject of another claim in the Land and Environment Court.
Jeff Johnson said, ‘While the current Council has previously recommended that the State Government support a conservation zone over the site, the NSW Department of Planning has written to Council and confirmed that the recent decision of Council to only support conservation zones in rural areas with the written consent of the landowner puts at risk a future conservation zone on this site.
‘The so called ‘opt in’ approach to conservation zones supported by all 4 Team Cadwallader aligned Councillors and only passed using the powerful casting vote of Mayor Sharon Cadwallader could cost ratepayers millions of dollars defending inappropriate development and likely lead to large scale development on the flood plain,’ said Cr Johnson.
He suggests that yesterday’s decision by the NSW Planning Panel sends a clear message to Ballina councillors that they need to reconsider their approach to land management on the flood plain.
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