Labor councillor Asren Pugh has taken issue with the Mullumbimby Residents Association (MRA) questioning of Council plans to develop 32 units and a commercial shop on a busy carpark in the town’s CBD.
He is asking councillors to reject their opposition at the upcoming April 27 meeting.
As previously reported, there is groundswell opposition to Council’s plans at 57 Station Street, given the poor process that surrounds it, a myriad of unanswered questions, and the potential flooding and visual impacts it will have upon the entrance to the town.
Divided Greens
The issue has divided the Greens, with local NSW MP Tamara Smith backing the residents calls and sponsoring a parliamentary petition to find a more suitable location, while Greens Mayor Sarah Ndiaye has backed the previous mayor and staff.
If approved, it will result in some of the units being used for Council staff accommodation.
The Echo asked federal Greens candidate Mandy Nolan whether she supports the plans.
She replied, ‘It’s fantastic that Byron Shire might finally see genuine affordable housing built that lasts in perpetuity. But I understand why residents feel development often happens to them, not with them. We must ensure community concerns are heard. We need thoughtful planning that respects what makes this area unique while addressing practical issues like flooding impacts. These concerns deserve proper consideration’.
‘The housing crisis is out of control in Byron Shire, and we need to deliver real affordable housing. But we also need to bring the community along on this journey and give them a say in what that looks like so we protect what we all love about this place’.
Cr Pugh’s demands
In the upcoming agenda for the upcoming April 27 meeting, Cr Pugh seeks councillor support to reject ‘calls by the Mullumbimby Residents Group [sic] for politicians in Sydney to override the decisions of our local council to build affordable housing’.
He also wants Ms Smith to, ‘withdraw her sponsorship of the petition to NSW parliament… and instead support Council’s efforts to build affordable housing’.
Yet the MRA has previously said, ‘we want affordable housing – the chosen site is problematic and we have proposals for alternatives’.
The issue has not been discussed in public with the new councillors, who took office in September last year.
A public meeting convened by the MRA at the Mullum Ex-Services Club on February 24 saw a packed room of residents upset at the lack of clarity around the project from councillors and the mayor.
Democratic rights?
MRA spokesperson, Vee Hunt, said residents are simply exercising their democratic rights under the NSW Local Government Act 1993.
‘This isn’t about opposing affordable housing or undermining Council authority’, said Ms Hunt. ‘It’s about ensuring proper consultation for a significant change to community infrastructure that many locals rely on daily’.
While Council maintains that community consultation will occur during the development application process, residents argue meaningful consultation should have happened before rezoning the land.
‘We all know housing affordability is a crisis,’ said long-time resident Chris Abrahams. ‘But solving one problem by creating another doesn’t make sense’.
Meanwhile, it is unclear if Council have sold the public land or not, despite a proposal for the rent to be in perpetuity.
Staff refused to disclose the sale price of the carpark, after former Greens councillor Duncan Dey asked for it during public access at the March 27 Council meeting. Staff say the sale of the public land is considered ‘commercial in confidence information’.
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