A contentious $300 million proposal on State Significant Farmland (SSF) next to the Tweed Hospital has been recommended for approval by The Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP). The Cudgen Connection decision came in late yesterday, after years of deliberations, opposition and political commitments to protect the SSF. It is located at 741 Cudgen Road.

Residents are holding firm against a proposal to develop State Significant Farmland (SSF) near the Tweed Valley Hospital at Cudgen, after the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP) held a public meeting on Friday 19 June around the Planning Proposal for Cudgen Connection (PP-2023-2669-Cudgen Connection).

The 2022 floods in South‑East Queensland and NSW are the costliest natural disaster for insurance costs in Australian history. So why are we continuing to allow developers to build on floodplains using development applications that are ten or twenty years old?

Cudgen’s protected farmland under threat the question is will the Labor state government break the ‘iron clad’ promise give to the community that there would be no further development of the protected Cudgen Plateau?

A request to extend temporary ‘pod’ housing in Byron Shire has been raised by the NSW Reconstruction Authority (NSWRA), Byron Shire Council’s General Manager, Mark Arnold, has confirmed.

The announcement of the new ambulance station for Kingscliff was welcomed by the community, in particular, that the state government kept its promise and protected the Cudgen Plateau’s State Significant Farmland from further development. 

At this afternoon’s Tweed Shire Council meeting Councillor James Owen is proposing that the ‘the Cudgen Creek Masterplan be prioritised’ as the area is being ‘loved to death’ by both locals and visitors. However, council staff have not supported the notice of motion.

The state government continues to say that councils have the ability to deal with problematic floodplain development approvals, but the evidence seems to say otherwise. So why won't the take action?

Concerned community representatives for Kingscliff, Tumbulgum and Chinderah communities met with Member for Tweed Geoff Provest last Friday to discuss the risks of approved but yet to built developments on flood prone land.

As development pressure has continued it has led to the filing in of low-lying areas. The impact that this is having on existing housing, especially as climate change takes effect through ‘unprecedented’ flooding, has led to a call to ‘pause’ development in flood-prone areas.