Ballina Shire Council’s first meeting of the year covered a lot of ground, with Cr Kiri Dicker making a number of memorable contributions.
Proceedings began with the latest instalment of the dog whistling campaign conducted by those claiming that Pat Morton lookout at Lennox Head is about to be renamed.
Marjorie Fitzgerald, the daughter of Ballina’s former mayor Jack Easter, said that her father named the lookout after former state roads minister Pat Morton, in recognition of his role in completing the road between Ballina and Lennox Head.
‘I find it very distressing my family was not sought or invited to be involved in any consultation with possible name changing. I believe this to be an insult to his legacy, myself and his grandchildren,’ she said.
‘Should Council initiate consultation for possible name changing, the family specifically request to be a part of such process. My family also insists the plaque on site be retained.’
A member of the Askin government, Pat Morton had no direct connection with this area, and is remembered these days, if at all, for his role in opposing Jack Mundey’s Green Bans in Sydney.
Leaving aside the question of whether the descendants of politicians should have any say over the renaming of things, Ballina Shire Council is currently focused on redeveloping the lookout car park, with any renaming or dual naming argument to happen at some time in the future, after extensive negotiation with all stakeholders, including the descendants of those who have been living here for thousands of years, as was made clear by Council staff later in the meeting.
Council voted to approve the detailed design plan for the Lennox Point carpark, as part of the latest review of its Delivery Program and Operational Plan.
Coastal hazards
Ballina Council voted unanimously to support Mayor Sharon Cadwallader’s proposal to call on the Australian government to establish a National Coastal Hazards Adaptation Strategy, with an associated funding program to ‘enable the local government sector to mitigate the increasing risks associated with projected sea level rise and the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.’
From the national to the very local, the mayor’s next minute requested that ‘Council investigate cost effective paving options suitable for dancing in the area immediately in front of The Wharf Bar and Restaurant and report the findings to Council.’
The majority of councillors thought this was a great idea, apart from Cr Kiri Dicker, who suggested that it was inappropriate to shortcut the usual process in this way.
‘I’m sure salsa dancing is heaps of fun [but] Council has a very well established procedure for allocating funding to public works. It happens through our integrated planning and reporting framework and our Delivery Program and Operational Plan…
‘That process is embedded in the Local Government Act, and it’s our obligation to uphold that process. It involves proposals being assessed on the basis of needs and urgency and placed on public exhibition,’ she said.
‘I’m open to this proposal being considered, but I think it needs to join the queue, and it needs to be considered through the ordinary business of council like every other proposal that we see.’
After a heated discussion about whether Ballina Council was opening itself to corruption risks with this sort of thing, the mayoral minute on dance-friendly paving was supported by everyone but Cr Dicker.
Other business
After the resolution of the Compton Drive situation at Shaws Bay, Council resolved to put the draft Spoonbill Reserve Master Plan on public exhibition for 28 days, then decided to designate 54 Beacon Road Teven as a Primary Production Zone. An amendment to retain part of the property as a conservation zone was lost.
Council then adopted its latest Climate Change Policy, described by Cr Dicker as, ‘the absolute bare minimum that any institution can do to address the issue of climate change… Suffice to say, we’re up the creek without a paddle, and things are pretty dire. So I think this is the least we can do.’
After a discussion about the new Biodiversity – Compensatory Habitats and Offsets policy, which was supported unanimously, there was a discussion of the state government’s new planning reforms, as it affects local councils.
Cr Kiri Dicker described the latest NSW stateswide planning agreement as ‘a complete nightmare’.
‘It just goes against everything, all of the principles of good planning, [such as] being place-based and responsive to local needs. The idea that the Ballina Shire can be lumped in with 84 other LGAs comprising 95 per cent of New South Wales…
I mean, honestly, that map shows how this Labor government thinks of NSW: there’s Sydney, not quite Sydney, but almost Sydney, and then everything else in the middle,’ she said.
‘Retrograde is the best possible word to describe this, and we should do our best to fight it, I’m not super hopeful that we’ll have much luck, because I think this is just more of the same centralisation of planning power and decision making in Sydney. It feels a bit hopeless, but let’s do what we can.’
With no other option apart from secession, councillors voted unanimously to endorse the state government’s new strategic planning document.
The rest of the meeting was largely concerned with financial matters. Details can be found here.
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Twelve Northern Rivers residents are celebrating the completion of a groundbreaking program designed to build essential skills and unlock employment pathways for women in civil construction. With local government meeting practice across the state returning to confusion following the NSW Legislative Council's recent decision, Ballina Shire Council's last meeting included a lot of unanimous decisions and an argument about the remnants of the Big Scrub, in which Mayor Cadwallader used her casting vote to squash Cr Simon Chate's motion. Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has approved Ballina Shire Council's application to increase its general income through a permanent special variation (SV) of 26.25% [in rates] over four years, from 2026-27 to 2029-30. Byron Greens members could expect to be asked to take the future of the Richmond River further south into account when choosing a candidate for next year’s state election. Local business owners in the Alstonville and Wollongbar townships are being encouraged to take the time to read through Ballina Shire Council’s draft plans, which are currently on exhibition.
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