The controversial community title (CT) subdivision at 53 McAuleys Lane, Myocum that directs traffic onto the McAuleys Lane and Mullumbimby Road intersection has had a number of the modifications sought by developers, John Callanan and Tim Mundy, approved by the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP) on 13 October.
The application sought changes to the subdivision layout and internal road alignment, permission to keep dogs under controls, and removal of requirements for a cycle path and turnaround in McAuleys Lane.
The development followed a familiar path. After initial meetings with Council, with Jack Dods in charge for the developer, neighbours weren’t notified as promised before the DA was submitted. Documents supporting the DA, when examined in detail by neighbours, were inadequate and were contradicted by other experts.
After gaining approval from the NRPP with numerous conditions, the developers then went back to the NRPP seeking to water down those very conditions.
The recent 13 October NRPP meeting considered 15 objections, with concerns including traffic and road safety, the impact of allowing dogs, wastewater disposal and the visual impact of an additional lot.
‘The revised application, like the first, was wrongly advertised with Byron Shire Council (BSC) as the consenting authority not NRPP. But again the community reviewed the new application which sought to remove the pet restrictions in a koala area, the cycleway, the emergency turnaround on McAuleys Lane and the upgrade of the Mullumbimby Road intersection, claiming it was redundant due to the recent publicly funded intersection works,’ neighbour, Richard Kowalski, told The Echo.
‘Protecting the environment is a priority all developers should respect. The intersection upgrade and cycleway are essential public safety issues required due to the impact of 39 new lots. The difficulties with this development could’ve been avoided if community consultation was undertaken as required, and committed to, in the rezoning stage,’ he said.
Some protections
While changes to the layout were approved, the final consent retains the prohibition on keeping cats and dogs to protect environmentally sensitive areas, except assistance animals. These sensitive areas were also protected from building envelopes and proposed septic areas. The plan must demonstrate minimum separation distances between wastewater disposal areas on a specified lot and a neighbouring dam and groundwater bore. It must also address the separation between another lot’s disposal area and a watercourse.
The road infrastructure requirements also remain, including a pedestrian path connecting the development to the bus stop in Mullumbimby Road.
‘Provision must be made to provide a cycle path from the development to 180 Mullumbimby Rd,’ the retained consent condition states.
The decision follows months of community concern about the proposed changes to the development, which was originally approved in June 2025.
‘The community was never against the development in principle but was focused on ensuring compliance with planning rules,’ Mr Kowalski said.
‘It’s reasonable to expect that development growth delivers improved community benefit and public safety and environmental outcomes.’
During the NRPP meeting Mr Kowalski also raised concerns over the fact that reports he had submitted to BSC in relation to proposed septic areas that were too close to his neighbouring dam, waterways, and bore had not been provided to the independent assessor by Council.
‘Without the community engaging professional peer reviews, and countless hours of work and stress reviewing the DA, these great outcomes would never have been achieved,’ he told The Echo.
‘Unfortunately, once again, the community has had to assess this application on Council’s behalf to ensure compliance. From Council incorrectly advertising these DAs, twice, to accepting consultant’s reports submitted by the applicant as fact without thorough assessment by staff, this has been made a torturous task for the community to undertake to ensure compliance.’
Concerns were also raised about the previous involvement of Byron Shire Councillor and former Deputy Mayor Jack Dods in the DA. Dods represented the developers in 2022 and 2023 and was subsequently listed by the NRPP as an ‘Applicant’ at a site meeting while serving as Deputy Mayor. Also listed was developer John Callahan, who is in a de facto relationship with Dods’ mother. Despite this connection, Dods answered ‘No’ to the question of whether he was a close associate of a property developer in his annual pecuniary interest disclosure.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
