Showing posts with label overdevelopment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label overdevelopment. Show all posts

Friday 24 November 2023

Multinational and interstate developers are devouring the Northern Rivers region one hectare at a time

 

Alan Edward Larkin
IMAGE: Linkedin
With 30 plus years experience in construction and property development, former managing director and principal of Aspect Property Group in Brisbane and current managing director of Digital Infratech Pty Ltd, Alan Edward Larkin of Coolangatta Qld, joins the conga line of multinational or interstate developers on the make in north-east New South Wales.


Mr. Larkin appears to be part of an alleged consortium involving IRBS1 Pty Ltd formerly trading as Aspect Property Group, Digital Infratech Pty Ltd solely owned by IRBS Holdings Pty Ltd & with Larkin as only listed director and, ASX-listed specialist funds manager Centuria Capital Group (currently $21 billion in assets under management with a $1.7 billion healthcare platform).


According to the Federal MP for Richmond Justine Elliot in February 2022: At the time of the land purchase [in 2019], it was widely publicly reported that Aspect had donated numerous times to the Liberal National Party in Queensland. Searches reveal that Aspect had donated more than $28,000 to the LNP in Queensland, including the infamous LNP Forward Brisbane Leadership Fund.


One has to wonder if the consortium was expecting its largesse in Queensland to translate into favourable treatment by a then Coalition state government in New South Wales.


Echo, 23 November 2023:


The rezoning of the State Significant Farmland (SSF) to build the Tweed Valley Hospital on the Cudgen Plateau near Kingscliff split the community and ultimately came with an ‘iron clad’ promise from local Nationals MP Geoff Provest that no more SSF would be rezoned.


However, the land next to the hospital site was bought by Allan Larkin, Director of Digital Infratech [Managing Director at Digital Infratech Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Queensland], just days before the announcement that the SSF would be rezoned for the Tweed Valley Hospital site. Since then Mr Larkin has proposed a mixed-use site called Cudgen Connection. Initially, they proposed that the site to be part of the stage 2 hospital development but this was rejected. Now they are imminently submitting a development application (DA) that provides private hospital and medical suites, essential worker housing, koala research centre, an education and community housing precinct and more at the 5.7 hectare site.


An artists impression of the new Cudgen Connection


Tweed Councillors write to the government


At the recent Tweed Shire Council (TSC) meeting (16 November, 2023) Councillors voted to write to Premier of NSW, Chris Minns, NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, NSW Leader of The Opposition, Mark Speakman, NSW Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Scott Farlow MLC, and Member for Tweed, Geoff Provest to request advice that ‘they will uphold the integrity of the Cudgen Plateau and support the existing retention of State Significant Farmland’.....


Full article can be read at:

https://www.echo.net.au/2023/11/call-to-protect-state-significant-farmland-next-to-tweed-valley-hospital-as-promised/



Friday 11 November 2022

The rape of north-east New South Wales continues

 

Linnaeus Estate, Byron Bay
IMAGE: http://linnaeus.com.au/













Echo, 7 November 2022:


Mayor, I agree, let’s set the record straight. Here’s a fact: the community was denied the right to know about the Linnaeus Estate rezoning to Mixed Use Development. The 25 August 2016 Council agenda reveals that there was no report to Council to endorse the change from Education, as required, and doesn’t include any information about the Linnaeus Estate zone change.


In September 2015 Council resolved to change the zone label from Education Establishment to Private Education Facility. It had been zoned restrictively for Education since 1990. So why was it exhibited with the broad term, ‘Multi Use Development’ in 2016? It’s not a fact that Parliamentary Counsel recommended the change, and if so, why wasn’t that reported? In April 2020 a further report admitted a ‘fundamental error’ that the zone allows Community Title (CT).


All in, a massive increase in development potential without the community knowing.


This represents a lack of procedural fairness, a denial of the community’s right to know about the changes for this significant land.


Recently, a further poor process for the Ecotourism development application (DA).


Who benefits? Not the community and not the environment.


Who’s to blame? Perhaps a council that fails to question the processes we rely on. Byron community Deserves Better.


Jan Barham, Broken Head, Former Byron Shire mayor



BACKGROUND


ECHO, 10 May 2021:


Community concern over the current development application (DA: 10.2021.170.1) for Linnaeus Estate in Broken Head has led to detailed analysis of the DA.


A key point of contention is the impact of the proposed development on the Nationally Critically Endangered Ecological Community (EEC), Littoral Rainforest at the site.


According to the Broken Head Protection Committee (BHPC), the DA seeks to clear an area of Littoral Rainforest as identified in the Biodiversity Assessment.


They point out that the 2019 Federal Government Recovery Plan under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) for the EEC has not been referenced in the application.


As a result the BHPC are calling for ‘the proposal to be referred to the Federal Government owing to the likely impact on the EEC due to the proposed change of use for the site and the associated intensification of impacts.’


However, the clearing of littoral rainforest has been disputed by one of the Linnaeus Estate representatives Brandon Saul, who told The Echo, ‘The Biodiversity Assessment you refer to clearly indicates the project has been carefully planned so as to avoid all mapped rainforest on the site. Put simply, no SEPP (State Environment Planning Policy) mapped rainforest will be cleared.


Mr Saul acknowledges that there will be an area of 0.44ha cleared, but stated that ‘The calculated compensation planting for this impact is 1,670 trees, but we will be planting a lot more.’


Around eighty objectors to the project rallied on the beach in front of the proposed site Friday morning….


ECHO, 27 February 2020:


A public meeting to discuss a ‘low-scale wellbeing retreat’ development proposal, at a gated beachside estate, situated between Byron Bay and Lennox Head will be held at the Broken Head Community Hall on Sunday March 1, from 4pm.


Council staff have told Echonetdaily the Linnaeus Estate DA will go before the Northern Regional Planning Panel.


While a DA is yet to be lodged, it has stirred neighbours into action.


According to the owners, ‘The 111.2 hectare property is covered by a combination of special activities – mixed use, environmental, private education and some rural zonings. While the zoning allows for tourism, the property is currently only approved for private education.


The application will seek to continue with current uses, as well as establish a low-scale eco-retreat, incorporating the existing facilities – pool, communal buildings and tennis court. The pool area would be upgraded with wellness facility (spa), toilets and showers and an evacuation building, back of house (office space, staff amenities and parking), bin and storage area and garden shed would be constructed.


The application proposes that 11 approved, but unbuilt, units with a combined floor space of 2,388m2 not be erected. That instead, 33 new two-person cabins/treehouses with a combined floor space of 1,862m2 be constructed for eco-retreat guests’.


Former Greens mayor and NSW MLC, Jan Barham, has flagged her concerns, which range from climate change impacts, foreseeable risk of future erosion and liability of Council.


Barham said, ‘It is unbelievable, with the coastal problems Council has been dealing with for decades, that in 2020, Council would create new lots in a coastal risk area, especially when they have declared a climate emergency.


There is also the likelihood of a repeat of historical events such as cyclones and east coast lows that could ravage this section of coast, and with Council supporting the new zonings in the risk area, there are serious consequences.


Disturbingly the proposal has identified as per the staff report: “15 lots in the coastal erosion zone,” but states that this will be dealt with by conditions of consent for any of the structures to comply with the relocatable provisions of the LEP and DCP.’


Developer replies

One of the developers, Brandon Saul, has hosed down what he says are misunderstandings about the proposal and process.


He told Echonetdaily that the proposal will not increase the number of people staying onsite ‘above what has already been adopted in the Rural Land Use strategy’.


Responding to queries as to expected numbers, he says ‘I suspect we’d be lucky to get 20 people at a time interested in the type of things we’d be looking to present’…..


Echonetdaily also asked, ‘Presumably this rezoning can be a catalyst for expanded operations in the future – ie a thin edge of the wedge?’


Saul replied, ‘We are not asking Council to re-zone the property. Tourism is already a permissible use on the land we propose to use for our retreat. That said, the “thin end of the wedge” argument represents a valid concern.


On that point, I’d encourage those that are concerned to take a closer look at the site and our proposal. While Linnaeus is a large parcel of land, most of it is not suitable for development and never will be. Much of it has already been voluntarily earmarked for ecological preservation under the council’s new “e zone” process and much of it is low lying grassland, not suitable to development…..


Note: Property developer Brandon Saul describes himself as "Serial entrepreneur with an interest in music, art, architecture, finance, technology, event management, social marketing and property development". He is currently a director of North Byron Parkands and Principal & Managing Director of The Mixed Media Group according to his Linkedin entry.


Saturday 15 October 2022

Quote of the Week


Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says stopping development on flood plains, especially in western Sydney, will go a long way towards saving communities already reeling from multiple natural disasters. "The obvious answer is to stop development on flood plains," he said on Friday.

[The West Australian, 7 October 2022] 


Tuesday 20 September 2022

On the northern side of the Clarence River estuary, the little coastal village of Iluka is battling poor urban planning and an inadequate drainage network in a changing regional climate



Clarence Environment Centre, Winter newsletter – 2022, excerpt:


Who could have predicted that?

They have to be kidding!


The overworked phrase, “who could have seen this coming”, has been used by all levels of government to excuse the debacle which was the response to the recent flooding event across the Northern Rivers, and has been rightly ridiculed.


For 40 years, the world’s scientific community, through the UN, has been warning us that the changing climate will generate more frequent and more extreme weather events, and have begged the world’s governments to take appropriate action, with little success.


The failure of those governments to make meaningful attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is inexcusable. However, to fail to plan for those forecast catastrophic weather events, verges on criminal neglect. The recent flooding saw lives and property lost, businesses forced to close, and rendered thousands homeless.


In the Clarence Valley, the response to 4 decades of warnings about the inevitability of increased flooding. has been zero, something that even this latest disaster seems unlikely to change.


In fact, Council’s first act when reviewing the cause of ponding in some areas in Iluka, was to examine past rainfall data, leading to the hardly surprising conclusion that: “The significant rainfall has led to a saturated catchment and high-water table, exacerbating the time taken for water to disperse”.


Council’s statement continues with: “There has been no event or combination of events since records began that comes close to the rainfall totals recorded at Yamba”, going on to say: “We need to be aware that the most efficiently designed drainage systems are not built to cope with rainfall totals equal to that recently experienced”.


Ponding problems in Iluka from recent rains will only worsen with the clearing of forested land and replacing it with roof-tops, concrete and bitumen


Having had over 40 years to plan for just such an event, we have to ask, why haven’t adequate drainage systems been designed, and required to be installed in all new developments?


Alongside one of Iluka’s ponding problem areas, a 140-lot subdivision is currently converting 14ha of bushland into roofs, concrete and bitumen, all combining to channel rainfall, at speed, through an inadequate stormwater system, directly into those ponding hotspots.















The above image was of the condition of that housing development after the water had subsided. Laughingly advertised as “Birrigan Iluka Beach”, despite being nowhere near the waterfront, it has already changed water flows beginning with the removal of the forest which has led to the unprecedented ponding, prompting this Facebook comment (see right). 


Council should be taking its “Climate Emergency” declaration seriously, and plan accordingly, but they aren’t, with multiple floodplain developments underway or in the planning stages in Iluka and Yamba.


Interesting time ahead!


Sunday 18 September 2022

Millionaire property developer Gordon Merchant's latest Yamba DA thwarted and next NRPP meeting may be deferred again re Hometown Australia's multi-dwelling Yamba DA

 

Image: Google Earth



NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING CANCELLATION –NORTHERN REGIONAL PLANNING PANEL


The following meeting has been cancelled:


· Panel reference number PPSNTH‐31 – Clarence Valley – SUB2019/0030 ‐ 52‐54 Miles St, Yamba ‐310 Lot Staged Residential Subdivision and ancillary infrastructure works including drainage reserves and the creation of a residue lot


The meeting was to be held on:


Wednesday, 21 September 2022 at 4pm

By teleconference


The meeting has been cancelled because the applicant has withdrawn the development application….



BACKGROUND


Clarence Valley Independent, 14 September 2022:


The Development Application DA for the $32 million staged residential subdivision located at the yet to be formed Miles Street, which runs east off Carrs Drive, was lodged with Clarence Valley Council CVC on behalf of Kahuna No 1 Pty Ltd, owners of the 42.5-hectare site.


The 850 metres by 500 metre site fronts Carrs Drive, with the to be constructed Miles Street and St James Primary School to the north, and Golding Street to the east.


CVC’s assessment report prepared by town planner James Hamilton notes the Kahuna Yamba Gardens DA was on public exhibition twice, with eight submissions received in the first exhibition period and 79 submissions from the most recent period.


The Council received a total of 87 individual submissions, comprising 87 objections and no submissions in support of the proposed development,” Mr Hamilton’s report stated.


The submissions raised issues relating to urban design, flooding, stormwater, traffic, filling, environment, services, climate change and sea level rise, heritage and impacts on the town.”


The assessment on the DA by Mr Hamilton listed six factors, including two endangered species, for refusal.


These factors for refusal included that The Rural Fire Service could not support the development under Section 100B of the Rural Fires Act 1997, and the fact the site contains two listed endangered flora species being Rotala tripartita and Spider orchid.


Sufficient information has not been provided to enable a determination on how the proposed development will not likely have a serious and irreversible impact on these two species,” the assessment stated.


The DA was also found by council to be inconsistent with the General Residential, Flood Planning and Earthworks clauses of the Clarence Valley Local Environment Plan 2011.


The proposal is inconsistent with the aims of Clarence Valley Local Environmental Plan 2011 as it has not been satisfactorily demonstrated that the proposed development will enable the sustainable development of the site, adequately protect areas of high ecological value and maintain the character of Yamba township,” the assessment stated.


CVC’s assessment also found the DA was inconsistent with numerous parts of the Clarence Valley Residential Zones Development Control Plan 2011, including Floodplain Management Controls, Sustainable Water Controls and Urban Release Area Controls…..


Watch this space for the next development application Mr. Merchant lodges on this land.



Meanwhile over in the Parkes Menai- Hometown Australia camp.....


It appears that Hometown Australia Management Pty Ltd's est. $33.9 million development application DA2021/0558 for 138 dwellings, an exhibition home and community facilities at 8 Park Ave, Yamba, may be deferred yet again by the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP) as the NSW Dept. of Planning and Environment has not yet submitted its review of the flooding and risk evacuation procedures supplied by Hometown at the request of NRPP.


This is a proposed development with an unhappy history. The original land clearing and landfill under a Parkes Developments DA resulted in the unapproved felling of a significant number of native trees in the adjoining dedicated Wattle Park.  


Further, although the original land fill on 8 Park Ave is estimated to have reached RL2.8AHD so that the site only has a 1% (1 in 100) chance in any given year of being surrounded by 2.08 to 2.51 metres of flood water, the stormwater flows from this approx. 6.65ha lot enter an inadequate on-site and extended drainage network


Resulting in situations like this for established homes now at a comparatively altered ground level approx. 2.8m lower than the very large Park Ave lot.

Extract from a submission to Clarence Valley Council,
28 October 2021 


Extract from a submission to Clarence Valley Council,
29 October 2021 - open ditch drain


Extract from "West Yamba Update", West Yamba Information,
21 June 2022 - before and after height of common boundary
with 8 Park Ave, Yamba


This is a situation which during prolonged/high rainfall events is likely to exacerbate the 2-5% chance of mixed stormwater-riverine water inundation in adjacent streets and across a number of residential properties. As occurred in the March 2022.



Monday 12 September 2022

An example of what land clearing and landfilling looks like in the small coastal town of Yamba in Northern NSW



THEN





Section of WEST YAMBA URBAN RELEASE AREA to the west (left) of Carrs Drive from below Harold Tory Drive down to Miles Street. IMAGE: Google Earth. Click on image to enlarge




The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 2007:


Plans to build 1100 homes on a flood plain have triggered a wave of worry, writes Linton Besser.


FOR 250 kilometres, the Clarence River snakes through northern NSW before it meets the coast at Yamba.


There, during heavy rain and high tide, the estuary spills its briny current over a huge flood plain just west of the town. The 340 or so hectares of salt marsh, melaleuca forest and mangrove swamp act like a giant sieve, filtering the floodwaters as they make their way into Lake Wooloweyah to the south.


Now though, the Clarence Valley Council is one vote away from rezoning the West Yamba flood plain and turning it into a busy residential area.


In a monumental decision, the council has foreshadowed dumping 270,000 truck loads of fill on the area to raise it high enough to make it habitable.


Council planners want the area to house a new population of 2700 people in 1100 dwellings, with development levies to pay for an overhauled sewerage scheme, roads and other infrastructure.


But green groups say the proposal, first mooted in 1995, will put Yamba at risk from rising sea levels, and represents a dramatic threat to the area's sensitive wetland ecology.


And even the proposal's architect, the council's environment and planning director, Rob Donges, acknowledges it is out of step with today's planning regime.


"There are acknowledged problems there. It is flood-prone, low-lying land with a high water table," he said. "We have never hidden the fact that if we were to start the process of West Yamba today there would be doubts as to whether council would proceed."


The council has not yet received the findings of a flood risk management plan, commissioned to examine the effects of altering the area's natural drainage corridors, but Mr Donges has recommended the draft local environment plan go ahead anyway.


He insists the wheel has turned too far to stop now……


NOTE: Former member of Maclean Shire Council & Clarence Valley Council senior planning staff, Mr. Donges now acts as a planning consultant, advising property development companies and assisting with their development applications. Applications he has been associated with include large-scale subdivisions in Yamba (including West Yamba), James Creek and elsewhere in the Clarence Valley. Mr. Donges has previously been involved with the West Yamba Urban Release Area as a local government employee.



NOW


Townes Contracting Group

Yamba Residential Developments

Carrs Drive 160 lot subdivision stage 1

Contract value: $12.5 million

150,000m3 of select fill 




Section of WEST YAMBA URBAN RELEASE AREA  that is currently being developed. IMAGE: Townes Contracting Group, 5 Riley Street, Tenterfield, NSW, 2372. Click on image to enlarge

 

Sunday 11 September 2022

Sometimes it seems that the NSW Coalition Government, along with the usual suspects amongst property developers & town planning consultants for hire, won't be satisfied until they carve up and concrete over ever hectare of land in the Lower Clarence Valley

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 7 September 2022:



A request by The James Creek Residents Group for an independent Landscape Architect to research and report on a proposed controversial subdivision has been rejected by Clarence Valley Council in less than 24 hours.


The Development Application DA from MPD Investments for a 332-lot sub-division, comprising 327 residential lots, one commercial lot and four drainage reserves and public open space areas for 104 James Creek Road is currently on public exhibition.


About 5pm on September 1, Lorri Brown sent a letter to Clarence Valley Council CVC senior staff and councillors on behalf of the James Creek Residents Group JCRG and said she was shocked to receive a reply at 11.36m the next day.


The speed at which the response came does worry us, because you wonder how much it had actually been considered,” she said.


What worries us is it’s the first subdivision out here in the hinterland of what we call Yamba and it's important to do it correctly.


"If we're going to subdivide land out here, we need to do it properly, that's all we're saying. "Let's get the first one right as a template for others to follow.


"When the JCRG asked council for a specific Development Control Plan DCP that applied to the proposed development, Mrs Brown said they were told the DCP is on the council website.


"The only control plans over it are for what you find in residential areas like Maclean or Yamba, and that's what they're applying," she said.


The JCRG stated in the letter they requested the research and report from an independent Landscape Architect because, as they understood, CVC didn't currently employ anyone with "the necessary credentials".


"For whatever reason there is no DCP or other guiding development controls currently in place for James Creek," the letter to council stated.


"We need to know how this subdivision will impact the natural and built landscape. "We have a responsibility to ensure that this is a development that is fit for the future."


Issues that would be assessed by the Landscape Architect requested in the JCRG letter included the impacts of a car dependent estate, why there are no designated electric vehicle charging stations and recommended locations and the implications with roads that don't comply to minimum carriageway requirements.


The projected effectiveness of heating /cooling for proposed building designs, the proposed density, small blocks, and heat banks were other issues to be assessed in the letter from JCRG.


"An evaluation of the designated park areas that have been flagged by council as inadequate for the density of the population," the JCRG requested.


"The realistic planting of trees in the designated footpath spaces, an environmental impact statement on the natural and built landscape, transition and buffer zones relating to neighbouring agricultural land and an evaluation of the subdivisions impact on the local ecosystem."


The assessments requested by the JCRG would necessitate a six-week extension in the progression of the DA, which the CVC General Manager Laura Black said she was "unable to provide" in her email reply.


"Council recently adopted its Community Participation Plan that sees the previously adopted 14 day exhibition period for complex DA's like James Creek extended to 28 days," Ms Black wrote.


"Twenty-eight days brings our exhibition timeframes in line with that required for large Environmental Impact Statements for state significant infrastructure projects (for example major highways and bridges).


"This is policy position of Council, and it can only be varied by resolution.".


Ms Black also alluded to problems a six-week extension would cause with the body that will ultimately decide the DA’s fate, the Northern Regional Planning Panel NRPP, which determines developments with a capital investment of more than $30 million.


I have also advised councillors’ that the Northern Regional Planning Panel requested that council officers make every effort to submit the DA to them before the end of the calendar year for their consideration, to ensure timely decision making for all stakeholders,” Ms Black wrote.


A six week extension would impede this happening.”…..


NOTE: Sections of James Creek Road is known to be cut by water over the road during heavy rain and flood events.


BACKGROUND


The Daily Examiner, 3 December 2020:


Last month a proposed 342-lot subdivision in the middle of James Creek caused many residents to raise concerns about the negative impact of such a development within its semirural setting.


The development application SUB2020/0038 lodged by Robert Collin Donges earlier this year includes 336 residential lots, four drainage reserves, one commercial lot and one public reserve.


While most residents were shocked to see this kind of DA appear in their neighbourhood, it was an inevitable step in the Clarence Valley’s regional urban growth plans.


According to the Mid-North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-2013, James Creek was identified as an area for proposed future urban release, along with Gulmarrad and West Yamba.


It was again identified as an area to investigate for urban land in the North Coast Regional Plan (2036).


James Creek is known for its quiet, semirural lifestyle with most properties on acreage. However, future planning could see future proposed developments transform the area into high-density housing.


But applicant Rob Donges said that is not his intention……



Clarence Valley Independent, 18 December 2020:


A development application (DA) for 342-lot staged residential subdivision at James Creek was withdrawn on December 7.


The James Creek Residents Action Group, which was formed in late November to “oppose and secure the rejection” of the proposal and “to work with Council, Developers and the Community to promote responsible and sustainable development in James Creek”, will remain proactive and “vigilant” regarding any future proposals for the site.


We still see our role as continuing to work with the council and the developer, whomever that might be, to secure the best outcome; responsible and sustainable development for James Creek,” spokesperson Lorri Brown said.


At yesterday’s Clarence Valley Council (CVC) meeting (after the paper’s print deadline), councillors considered a request from the withdrawn DA’s applicant, Rob Donges, on behalf of owner Kahuna No. 1 Pty Ltd.


The applicant has now requested a refund of $20,000 for unspent application fees due to the application being withdrawn,” the report to council stated.


Staff recommended refunding about 50 per cent ($11,415) of the DA fees; due to staff time already expended processing and advertising the DA…..



North Coast Voices, 17 November 2021:


Queensland white shoe brigade onboard as owner of around 33.49ha of James Creek land has another run at overdevelopment


The Daily Examiner online, 12 November 2021:



The James Creek plan could see hundreds of residential lots opened up.


The current proposal at Lot 104 James Creek Road, James Creek was lodged by Madison Ruygrok through Kahuna No 1 Pty Ltd. If approved by Clarence Valley Council it would see 327 residential lots, one commercial lot and two open-space lots created.


According to civil engineering drawings prepared by Geolink in October this year, the majority of proposed sites would be between 600-799 square metres in size with the subdivision to be delivered in five stages with most to have two or three sub-stages.


It’s not the first time the site has raised the ire of nearby residents so it is expected there will be some strong opposition to the most recent plan.


In the March 2014 fiery remarks were hurled from the public gallery as James Creek residents watched Clarence Valley councillors agree to rezone the lot from primary production to general residential and medium density residential.


Then, in November 2020, multiple submissions were made opposing a development application that proposed 336 residential lots, four drainage reserves, one commercial lot and one public reserve.


However, residents against the development were relieved to discover that a month later, the application was withdrawn.


But despite their best efforts to thwart that development, a future of medium to high-density housing in this quiet, semi rural Lower Clarence suburb seems inevitable.


Over a decade ago, James Creek was targeted as an ideal spot for urban growth.


According to the Mid-North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-2013, James Creek was identified as an area for proposed future urban release, along with Gulmarrad and West Yamba.


Residents and members of the community have until December 3 to make a submission to Clarence Valley Council on the development application (number SUB2021/0042).


The owner & only listed shareholder of Kahuna No.1 Pty Ltd is Billabong founder Gordon Stanley Merchant of Tungan Qld and Madison Ruygrok is currently listed as a Town Planner with Place Design Group Pty Ltd of Fortitude Valley Qld.


Oddly in SUB2021/0042 - currently before Clarence Valley Council - it lists the developer of the land as The Trustee for MPD INVESTMENTS UNIT TRUST not Kahuna No1.


Presumably The Trustee for MPD Investments Unit Trust - an entity created in 2021 with an ABN registered in Queensland - is associated with Gordon Merchant.


Mr. Merchant's financial difficulties became known when the Australian Taxation Office reportedly penalised him around $13 million "after an audit by the tax office has ended with Mr Merchant being disqualified for “recklessly contravening” superannuation laws, as well as owing $45m in back tax".  


Administrative Decisions Tribunal April 2021 records show that Mr. Merchant lodged an Income Tax Objection in October 2020 and, he remains disqualified from acting as trustee or responsible officer of corporate trustees of superannuation entities, under subsections 126A(2) and 126A(3) of the SIS Act. 


One has to wonder if either Kahuna No 1, MPD Investments Pty Ltd or The Trustee for MPD Investments Unit Trust are financially secure enough to meet all the fees and charges associated with this development application and commencement of works. 


Or indeed if it is wise to pack an est. 818 persons into such a sardine tin housing estate on approx. 33.49ha between Maclean and Yamba in what is essentially still an agricultural area on a sensitive part of the flood plain where floodwaters are  liable to cut off access to & egress from farms and urban areas in a strong flooding event.