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| Wallum Land IMAGE: Mac Maderski at savewallum.com |
“You are literally holding a front line between extinction and survival.... We must stand strong together. You are mighty powerful. You are the frontline. You are even bigger than this magic place, Wallum, and together we are going to win this.” [Greens State MP & Northern Rivers resident Susan Higginson addressing the March Against Zombies on 1 March 2024]
Torakina Road, Brunswick Heads NSW, Lot 13 DP 1251383 and environs
Vegetation mapping of Lot 13 DP 1251383 and environs
Echo, 19 April 2024:
The company behind the Wallum housing development in Brunswick Heads is once again taking Byron Council to court, this time for allegedly holding up its planned earthworks at the site in an unlawful manner.
As thousands of locals continue their campaign to save the heathland site from becoming home to 124 housing lots, Clarence Property has lodged an appeal against Council’s ‘deemed refusal’ of its stage 2 subdivision works certificate.
The developer needs Council to issue this certificate, which is essentially a procedural box-ticking exercise, before it can start undertaking bulk earthworks at Wallum.
But the process has been delayed by Council requesting additional information from Clarence about stormwater management, and seeking further consultation with the traditional owners.
The developer is arguing that this delay amounts to a ‘deemed refusal’ of its subdivision works certificate because of the length and nature of the delay, and has lodged an appeal against this refusal in the Land and Environment Court (LEC).
‘An application to the Land & Environment court is an increasingly common approach that Developers look to take in order to preserve their legal rights with local councils,’ Clarence Property CEO, Simon Kennedy told The Echo.
‘It’s not Clarence Property’s preferred approach; however, where a matter becomes protracted or political, it may be the best way to resolve the issue.’
Second court case
It is the second time Clarence has commenced proceedings against Council in the LEC for deemed refusal of a subdivision works certificate in the past three months.
On the first occasion, which related to a construction certificate for ecological rehabilitation works, Clarence halted its action against Council when a slim majority of councillors voted to sign off on the certificate.
The February 8 casting vote by mayor Michael Lyon was supported by councillors Mark Swivel, Asren Pugh and Alan Hunter.
They argued part of the reason for authorising the works certificate was advice provided by Council’s legal team, which suggested that Council had few prospects of successfully defending such a case.
This was largely because the development had already been approved by the Northern Regional Planning Panel.
If Council had chosen to pursue the matter and then lost, they suggested Council could have faced a substantial legal bill that included paying Clarence Property’s legal costs.
However, there is strong support from the Save Wallum campaign, the community and other councillors, to pursue legal action regardless of the likely outcome.
They argue that taking this step could encourage the developer to amend its plans, or at least buy time for other avenues to bear fruit.....
The Wallum site, located next to the Bayside housing estate, is home to multiple threatened species, including the wallum froglet and the wallum sedge frog....
On the morning of Thursday 18 April 2024 at its monthly meeting Byron Shire Council again considered the matter set out below. As of Sunday 20 April the minutes of this meeting have not been published on its website.
BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL
STAFF REPORTS - SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY 13.9
Ordinary Meeting Agenda
18 April 2024 page 148
Report No. 13.9 Wallum Subdivision DA10.2021.575.1 -
Response to Council Resolution 23-454 -
Stormwater and Cultural Heritage Site
Inspection Plan
5 Directorate: Sustainable Environment and Economy
Report Author: Chris Larkin, Manager Sustainable Development
File No: I2024/260
Summary:
Council considered a Notice of Motion 9.2 Wallum DA10.2021.575.1 referral and assessment Agenda of Ordinary (Planning) Meeting - Thursday, 12 October 2023 and resolved under Parts 5, 6 and 7 of Resolution 23-454 to receive certain assessments of certain plans, and for those assessments to be reported back to Council.
This report responds to Parts 5(e) and (f) in terms of stormwater maintenance management plan for the existing drain (Condition 12), the Cultural Heritage Inspection Plan (Condition 18), Part 6 in terms of further consultation with the traditional custodians of the land and Part 7 in relation to further stormwater commentary around Condition 11.
The development has been approved in a number of stages. The matters for consideration in this report relates to three of the sixteen conditions relevant to Early Stage 2 Bulk Earthworks.
Based on the assessment below, staff recommend that Council notes the report.
RECOMMENDATION:
That Council notes the report Wallum Subdivision DA 10.2021.575.1 - Response to 25 Council Resolution 23-454 - Stormwater and Cultural Heritage Site Inspection Plan....
Put on the spot in state parliament last month the NSW Minister for Planning & Public Spaces Paul Scully pointed to his referral on 10 October 2023 of the question of historical development applications to the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Environment and Planning.
The Committee only announced its Inquiry into historical development consents in NSW and called for submissions on 19 March 2024 but makes no mention holding public hearings and is yet to publish any submissions it may have received to date.
This state parliamentary inquiry will do nothing to halt unlisted Clarence Property Corporation Limited - issuer of the PDS for Clarence Property Diversified Investment Trust (formerly Westlawn Property Trust) & Epig Lennox Property Trust - as it continues to swing its wrecking ball through what remains of natural landscapes in coastal areas of the NSW Northern Rivers region.
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