Climate Change State of Play 2022: These days living in Yamba NSW is like existing within many confusing layers of altered reality

These days living in Yamba NSW, situated on a 500 sq km coastal floodplain at a point where the 'Mighty' Clarence River meets the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, is like existing within many confusing layers of altered reality.

In the local paper on 23 November 2022 the front page led with an article titled "Stop Building On Floodplains" in which both the Prime Minister, Federal Minister for Emergency Management, and even NSW Premier Perrottet expressed concerns about continuing to expand the urban footprint on floodplains. 

Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Watt came out strongly on the "need to stop development on floodplains". Though in all honesty Mr. Perrottet's statement had all the slippery characteristics of a political bet each way, only wanting to "learn from past mistakes" given his government is currently attempting to concrete over and garden gnome infest many of the state's floodplains between the mountains and the sea.

Clarence Valley Independent, 23 November 2021, Page One

On page 8 of the same issue there was another article accompanied by a colourful graphic (left) reciting the progress being made with the infilling of most of Yamba's remaining natural flood storage area in order to build up to another 1,528 dwellings to house what could be as many as est. 3,800 men, women and children on 127 ha of urban release land approved by the NSW Government as part of its planning policy for residential growth.

Thus growing the permanent resident population to well over 10,000 people just in time for the full brunt of climate change to zero in on the New South Wales coastal zone.

At this point North Coast Voices readers may feel a hint of the cognitive dissonance many local residents are experiencing.

For with landfill yet to be completed, Carrs Drive still raddled by the effects of both flooding & continuous heavy vehicle movements and stormwater/floodwater drainage issues not yet resolved, the rapacious developers are beginning to sell 'off the plan' house and land packages such as these "California dreaming" lifestyle packages on 18.2ha of Carrs Drive land that is historically prone to 1 in 5, 1 in 20, 1 in 50, 1 in 100 flood events — any of which statistically could happen in any given year.

Artist's rendition of yet to be built "Clifton" retirement living

IMAGE: realestate.com.au, retrieved 28 November 2022

So here we sit in Yamba — watching Coalition politicians accompanied by a bevy of developers and real estate agents sell a future that is already gone forever — knowing full well that the Australian Government, CSIRO, Bureau of Meteorology and independent climate scientists are all telling us that in eight years time the subregion which we inhabit will be entering a climate where nothing is certain except the fact that we will be living through never ending, erratic cycles of unnatural disasters until the river and ocean reclaim Yamba as their own.