NSW Labor’s Planning and Agriculture ministers Paul Scully and Tara Moriarty have failed to confirm their commitment to State Significant Farmland (SSF) at Cudgen Plateau today.
When the site for the contentious Tweed Valley Hospital (TVH) on the Cudgen Plateau was rezoned from SSF to allow the TVH site to be builtm the National Party MP Geoff Provest, supported by then Planning Minister Anthony Roberts and Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders, gave an ‘iron clad’ commitment that no further SSF would be rezoned for alternative development.
Just ten days prior to the rezoning of the TVH site for development Allan Larkin, Director of Digital Infratech bought the parcel of land adjoining the hospital site with the full knowledge of its SSF zoning. With a consortium, Larkin has since pursued a $350m development called Cudgen Connection at that site. It has yet to submit a development application (DA) but it is understood that this is imminent.
The proposal includes a private hospital and medical suites, essential worker housing, koala research center, education and community housing precinct and more at the 5.7 hectare site.
Elliot and Byrnes commit
Following the announcement of the Cudgen Connection proposal the opposition Labor party also committed to preserving the SSF, with a joint statement from local Tweed Labor councillor Reece Byrnes, along with then Shadow Minister for the North Coast Walt Secord, and Justine Elliot, Federal Member for Richmond saying, ‘Labor has always been committed to protecting the Cudgen farmland from development and that hasn’t changed. While we do not know the full details of this $250 million [cudgen Connection) project and it may have some merits, it should not be built on state significant farmland.’
Yesterday Labor’s Tweed councillor Byrnes and Federal Member for Richmond Justine Elliot again confirmed with The Echo that, ‘In relation to the Cudgen Connection development, Justine Elliot (Federal Member for Richmond) and Cr Reece Byrnes’ (Tweed Councillor) position remains the same. We stand with the community and oppose the development.’
This follows the Tweed Shire Council (TSC) meeting (16 November 2023) when the majority of councillors, Cr Warren Polglase (Conservative) against, voted to write to the NSW Premier Chris Minns among others to confirm their commitment to the SSF at Cudgen Plateau.
Cudgen Connection
According to the developer of Cudgen Connection, 70 per cent of Tweed Shire residents support having the health and worker housing precinct next to the TVH site. However, in a meeting with the Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association (KRAPA) last month the developers admitted that the figure was significantly lower for residents in the Cudgen and Kingscliff area.
The figure has also been questioned by others, including one local who said they attended one of the public consultation events but were not asked to fill out a survey. Another told The Echo that it was ‘just a vox pop survey that merely asked if you supported affordable housing and a health precinct’. With only 160 responses, they also questioned if the results were truly representative.
Speaking to the recent council meeting Mayor Chris Cherry (Independent) pointed out that the TSC was seeking to ask about the state government’s support of SSF, not specifically the Cudgen Connection site. However, she did go on to address the Cudgen Connection consultation process saying, ‘with regards to the community consultation that has been reported in the Tweed Valley Weekly today [16 November] suggesting some change in the community sentiment. I think if you ask the community if they think building affordable housing is important, they will say “yes”.
‘I think also, if you ask the community if they think protection of State Significant Farmland is important, they will also say “yes”. So I have strong concerns about community consultation in terms of just accepting it as as it stands. I would be very interested to see what the questions were in that particular survey.’
State government decision
Councillor James Owen (Liberal), who put the motion, pointed out that any decision on the Cudgen Connection development would be made by the NSW state government, not TVC. He reminded the chamber that the site was very controversial and that the government had previously committed to no further development of the SSF on the Cudgen Plateau.
‘The confidence of the proponents leaves me wondering whether there are things that we don’t know, or whether there are conversations that have taken place. Because council’s position has remained the same and it’s not even up to the council. It’s up to the state government what happens here.
‘The previous state government minister wrote in May 2022 to council [to] advise that the New South Wales state government remains committed to protecting the remaining farmland in Cudgen. In the same letter to the council, he and then agricultural minister, and now leader of the Nationals and Shadow Minister for regional New South Wales, “supported your council’s position on preventing additional development of farmland in Cudgen”.’
The response to questions to the offices of Planning Minister Scully and Agriculture Minister Moriarty directly asking if ‘Labor will confirm their commitment to preserving State Significant Farmland (SSF) at Cudgen Plateau’ was from a spokesperson from the Department of Planning and Environment stating that:
‘The Minister’s office and the Department of Planning and Environment met with the proponents earlier this year. The proponents have been advised of the planning and assessment pathways and that any proposal would require a rezoning proposal. The Tweed Council would be required to assess and determine such a proposal in the first instance under existing planning processes. It is noted no such planning proposal has been submitted for assessment.’
Locals say they want SSF protected
President of KRAPA, Peter Newton, told The Echo that they ‘strongly support Councillor Owen’s motion’.
‘Indeed, having met recently with the Cudgen Connection consortium, we have no doubt that they will be using any means possible to pursue a non-agricultural related development on their land on the Cudgen Plateau. The consortium made it clear to us that they believe they can mount an argument to have their land on the Cudgen Plateau rezoned for their proposed development. We have no doubt that they will rely on aspects of the NCRP 2041 in their argument, particularly Appendix B.
‘Additionally, the consortium is also heavily pursuing the narratives of affordable housing and that Kingscliff/Cudgen particularly needs to provide accommodation for hospital staff.
‘The Association completely rejects this notion – people do travel for work and accommodation is available within a reasonable radius of the Tweed Valley Hospital. The Tweed Regional City Plan itself provides a range of options in this regard, albeit hamstrung by a lack of incentive or willingness for developers to bring their land to market. Simply, we do not need to sacrifice valuable, climate-resilient, protected agricultural land at the whim of a developer stoking a false narrative to further their attempt to rezone.’
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