When it comes to trashing the built environment & amenities in small regional towns the Minns Labor Government is as big a destructive bully as its Liberal-Nationals predecessors

 

This is a cruel hoax being perpetrated by the NSW Minns Labor Government which benefits no-one except financial speculators and slapdash property developers 

Echo, 21 December 2023:

The latest ‘affordable housing’ reforms by the NSW Labor government have been roundly criticised by the peak body representing councils, with Local Government NSW (LGNSW) saying it ‘further erodes council involvement in town planning, giving developers increasingly free rein in both city and country’.

The legislation that governs NSW ‘affordable housing’ is the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), and a revamped SEPP came into effect last week under NSW Labor, which aims ‘to make it faster and easier to build more affordable housing’.

It followed the original policy announcement made earlier in June.

A joint statement by Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, and Minister for Housing, Homelessness and the North Coast, Rose Jackson, spun a positive message around the reform, including amendments ‘to ensure the bonuses are available to Build to Rent developments, by allowing them to apply in commercial zones, even if residential accommodation is prohibited under the relevant Local Environmental Plan (LEP)’.

Inconsistent statements

Ms Jackson said, in the media release, ‘These reforms are about bringing together all key delivery partners while making sure we consider the views of councils and communities, so we get high quality homes supported by the right infrastructure and amenity.’

Yet LGNSW president, Cr Turley, said the new SEPP removes councils from the approval process, which removes community checks and balances, and that the reforms also do not address how the infrastructure required by the additional density and growth in population would be funded.

‘You can vote out a council which makes planning decisions you don’t support, but you have no such power to get rid of the bureaucrats,’ she said.

The Echo asked the office of Ms Jackson why she believes councils’ views were considered in the revised SEPP, given the views of LGNSW.

Additionally, The Echo asked how can the NSW government ‘be confident that their affordable housing reform will be effective, given there is no measure of effectiveness in this reform?’.

Also, ‘Does Ms Jackson support a parliamentary inquiry into the SEPP to establish how affordable housing outcomes can be measured and improved?’

Ms Jackson’s reply will be published if received.

Cr Turley added the SEPP change also allows developers of the biggest buildings to bypass every single component of the council approval process, leaving no protection for local communities.

‘Under the State Significant Development (SSD) pathway, communities will be at the mercy of faceless government bureaucrats any time a building costs more than $75m in the city, or $30m in regional areas’, she said.

The NSW Minns Government continues to make the right noises about ceasing residential development on the state's floodplains, however it is uncertain how committed it will be in practice given the pressure construction & development industries can bring to bear

 An number of uncomfortable caveats are apparent in the following statements made concerning New South Wales floodplains....

*yellow highlighting in this post is mine*

AAP General News Wire. 3 November 2023:

More planned developments could be scraped in NSW after a state government report found there was a risk to residents' lives in flood plain areas.

Plans to build extra homes on high-risk flood plains could be shelved across NSW after the state government axed the rezoning of land on Sydney's outskirts.

The decision to scale back the developments on the city's northwestern fringe followed a state government flood report that declared there would be a “risk to life” in the case of a mass evacuation.

Planning Minister Paul Scully said the government was considering extending the measure to any dangerous flood plain area, although he declined to give a clear definition of what that would entail.

"It's one, not unreasonably, that puts lives at risk," he told a budget estimates hearing on Friday.

"The definition of dangerous will vary based on the frequency, the severity (and) the capacity for people to leave."

The state government on Sunday announced it was scrapping rezoning plans for Marsden Park North and parts of West Schofields, which were due to be developed with more than 10,000 homes.

Plans for a new Riverstone Town Centre will also no longer go ahead.

The decision followed the release of a flood evacuation report, which found there was a risk to life in areas such as the Hawkesbury-Nepean basin.

Mr Scully on Friday described the area as the plain with the highest unmitigated flood risk of anywhere in Australia.

The report said the number of people unable to evacuate from the region in the case of a flood increased significantly if all potential development was to occur.

"For example, for a 1-in-500 chance per year flood (similar to the worst flood on record), the risk to life would increase from an estimated 980 people under committed development to around 23,700 people by 2041," it read.

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman called on the government to be transparent about its modelling, referring to criticisms of the evacuation report by former NSW Police deputy commissioner Dave Owens.

"Obviously governments cannot be reckless and put people in harm's way," he told ABC Radio.

Pressed at estimates about whether the government would stop housing developments in other flood-plain regions, such as Clarence Valley in the Northern Rivers, Mr Scully said he was "looking at all options".

"Where there are cases where we believe there should be an intervention, that will happen," he said.

"As a broader policy work, that continues.

"We absolutely won't put lives unnecessarily at risk by building on dangerous flood lines."

Mr Scully said if housing developments did not go ahead, the land could be used in alternative ways.

"Just because you can't use a piece of land for residential use, doesn't mean you can't use it for other uses ... there's sporting fields, there's biodiversity, there's the potential for areas to be zoned as industrial or commercial," he said.

Deputy Premier, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces & Labor MP for Wollongong Paul Scully, media release, 29 October 2023:

Focus on prevention to reduce risk to life during floods in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley

Published: 29 October 2023

The NSW Government is delivering on its election commitment to no longer develop housing on high-risk flood plains in Western Sydney.

The Government is today announcing it has rezoned parts of the North-West Growth corridor to ensure NSW does not construct new homes in high-risk areas.

The Government is also releasing the Flood Evacuation Modelling report for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, which informed the rezoning decisions.

No more building on high-risk flood plains

We cannot continue to develop and build new residential towns in high-risk areas, and risk putting more people in harm’s way.

Following a rigorous assessment process and review of expert advice on flooding, it has been determined the proposed rezoning and draft plans for Marsden Park North precinct and Riverstone Town Centre will not proceed.

The plans for the West Schofields precinct will partially proceed, subject to strict conditions.

The three projects fall within the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley floodplain and were put on hold in 2020 until further flood risk investigations and evacuation modelling were completed.

It means that, in line with the NSW Government’s election commitment, and in taking a risk-based approach to planning decisions on dangerous flood plains, of the approximately 12,700 new homes previously proposed – but not approved – under the three rezonings, only up to 2,300 will now proceed.

The NSW Government will continue to work closely with councils and other stakeholders to explore suitable land-use options.

Work is also underway to understand where additional housing can be accommodated to mitigate the impacts of these decisions on the housing pipeline.

Flood Evacuation Modelling report for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley

The land-use planning decisions follow the release of Flood Evacuation Modelling report for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

The modelling was undertaken to help make better decisions on emergency evacuations, land use planning and road upgrades in one of Australia’s most dangerous flood risk areas.

The former NSW government commissioned an independent expert inquiry led by Mary O’Kane and Mick Fuller into the preparation for, causes of, response to and recovery from the 2022 catastrophic flood event across the state of NSW.

Key recommendations in the report included revised and updated flood modelling and disaster adaption plans to help resolve rezoning decisions.

This updated modelling has been instrumental in the NSW Government’s consideration of the three planning proposals in Sydney’s North-West Growth Area.

The Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley covers over 500km2 of floodplain in Western Sydney, stretching from Wallacia to Brooklyn and Wisemans Ferry.

It includes land in Hawkesbury, Hills, Blacktown, Penrith, Central Coast, Wollondilly, Liverpool and Hornsby Local Government Areas with more than 140,000 people living or working in the floodplain.

The valley is often compared to a bathtub – one with five ‘taps’ flowing in and only one drain. Between 2020 and 2022, the area flooded six times with some of the largest floods seen in decades.

Sadly, this area has suffered even bigger floods in the past, and the Government must consider the risk of similar floods in the future.

The extreme depth of floods in the valley means that large numbers of people often need to evacuate at short notice before roads out are cut off. It is not possible to shelter in place in these areas.

Adding to the complexity, thousands of vehicles need to evacuate using roads and intersections that were not designed for those levels of traffic.

This technical Flood Evacuation Modelling report for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley will be used to reduce the risk to life by informing better planned evacuation routes for flood events, assesses potential road infrastructure options and inform decisions on potential future developments.

While improvements can be made, the flood challenges of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley are not ones that communities can build their way out of.

The report makes clear that the number of people who will be unable to evacuate increases significantly with potential future development and climate change.

Recognising that decisions to limit new homes on the flood plain could raise concerns for small local landowners, the Government has appointed strategic planning expert Professor Roberta Ryan to provide independent community liaison support to help affected landowners them understand and navigate the issues.

Professor Ryan has previously assisted communities in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis and Orchard Hills on land-use planning matters.

For more information read the Flood Evacuation Modelling report or more about flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valleylaunch

A new focus on disaster preparedness

What is clear, is NSW’s ability to prevent and prepare for disasters has been hampered by ineffective funding, with 97% of all disaster funding spent after an event and only three per cent spent on prevention and preparedness.

It’s part of why the NSW Reconstruction Authority was established in December 2022 with the expanded responsibilities to include adaption, mitigation and preparedness for natural disasters.

As part of that, an historic $121 million has been invested in the last Budget to properly resource the NSW Reconstruction Authority and allow the authority to support communities across the state better prepare for natural disasters including bushfires, floods and storms.

The authority is working on a State Disaster Mitigation Plan and new regional Disaster Adaptation Plan to reduce the impact of floods in the Valley and this tool will also be used to better understand the risks.

Today’s announcement is a key example of the preventative work that will be prioritised to reduce the impacts of natural disasters in the state.

Minister for Western Sydney, Deputy Premier Prue Car said:

“Western Sydney residents have borne the brunt of recent disasters including the pandemic and floods in the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley.

“By stopping unsafe development in dangerous areas on flood plains, and with our Government’s work to reduce the risk of disasters before they happen, we’re making sure communities across Western Sydney, in areas including Penrith, Blacktown and Riverstone, are finally supported and better protected.

“When we consider new housing areas, we will look at both the potential for those homes to be inundated in floods, as well as the impact more homes will have on the ability of both new and existing residents to evacuate in emergencies.

“We know we can’t stop natural disasters from occurring, but we are committed to doing more to prepare for and prevent the worst of their impacts.”

“This new tool will not only help us better plan for evacuations but it will also make our amazing emergency service workers safer by reducing the risks they face when responding to floods in the valley.”

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:

“We’ve all seen the devastation caused by floods in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley – with homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. We also know these communities will only face more and worse flood risks if things stay the same.

“There’s no simple solution but we are working on a suite of measures which includes this tool to help NSW better prepare for disasters.

“These are hard and complex policy problems – we need to deliver new housing, but it needs to be done safely.

“New developments could impact the ability of both new and existing residents to evacuate safely during emergencies, which puts more lives at risk.

“I’d rather a disappointed landowner confront me over a decision we’ve made to keep them safe, rather than console them when they’ve lost a loved one because of floods.

“We’ve been clear that we will put an end to unsuitable development on dangerous flood plains which puts lives at risk and destroys livelihoods - this model gives us the technical data needed to make those informed decisions and balance competing priorities.”

****************************

Frequently Asked Questions

Flood Evacuation Modelling at:

https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-10/Hawkesbury%20Nepean%20Valley%20Flood%20Evacuation%20Model%20FEM%20FAQs.pdf

PROPOSED GREAT KOALA NATIONAL PARK - STATE OF PLAY SEPTEMBER 2023: and now for a some good news

 

Map of the proposed Great Koala National Park (white outline). Red polygons show planned logging over the next 12 months. White polygons are 'koala hubs’ - the most important sites of koala habitat in NSW [Nature Conservation Council (NSW), 2023] Click on image to enlarge

Nature Conservation Council (NSW)

Media Release, 12 September 2023

Critical Koala Habitat protected from logging: NCC welcomes moratorium of logging

The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, today welcomes the announcement by Ministers Sharpe and Moriarty that critical koala habitat in the future Great Koala National Park will be granted immediate protection from logging.

“This is a historic step forward by the Minns Government. “From today, 8400 hectares of the most important koala habitat in the world will be protected from logging,” said Nature Conservation Council acting CEO Dr Brad Smith.

The NSW Government today announced the process to establish the Great Koala National Park, as well as a halt to timber harvesting operations in the 106 koala hubs within the area being assessed for the park.

As the NSW government notes “The 106 koala hubs cover more than 8,400 hectares of state forest. Koala hubs are areas where there is strong evidence of multi-generational, high-density populations of the iconic animal. Koala hubs cover approximately 5% of the Great Koala National Park assessment area, but contain 42% of recorded koala sightings in state forests in the assessment area since 2000.

The move comes after analysis by the Nature Conservation Council released in June found that 17.7% of state forest that constitutes the Great Koala National Park proposal was to be targeted for logging over the next 12 months – a 300% increase on the previous two years.

Critically, the analysis found that logging was planned in areas the NSW government has identified as the most important areas of koala habitat in NSW (OEH Koala Hubs) including Wild Cattle Creek, Clouds Creek, Pine Creek and Boambee State Forests.

"This is a big win for the environment movement, koalas and the forests of the mid north coast” Dr Brad Smith, NCC Acting CEO said.

“What we’ve seen today is Ministers Sharpe and Moriarity recognise and respond to the community who want to protect their local forests, koalas and First Nations heritage from the devastating impact of logging.”

“This decision is a win for the people of NSW, who rallied, protested and demanded better - in some cases tying themselves to the giant trees that will now remain standing.” 

“This decision is also a recognition that logging has a devastating impact on koalas and biodiversity. We applaud them for ensuring that the most important areas of koala habitat in NSW be protected.”

“Protecting the most precious 5% of the Great Koala National Park area gives these koala populations a fighting chance.

“Of course we’re also concerned about the remaining 95% of the proposed park area, and we look forward to working through that assessment to ensure it’s also protected from logging as soon as possible.

“We also welcome the confirmation that 8400 hectares constitutes 5% of the park, meaning the Minns Government is delivering on their election promise by assessing all 175 000 hectares of forest that constitutes the Great Koala National Park proposal.”

Statement ends

In the space of three days state-owned Forestry NSW has apparently thumbed its nose at the Land & Environment Court and exposed itself to the international community as an environmental vandal

 

Echo, 1 September 2023:

Aunty Alison and Aunty Lauren on Gumbaynggirr Country at Newry State Forest. Photo supplied

Gumbaynggirr Elder Uncle Micklo and the oldest and most senior Gumbaynggirr Elder living on Gumbaynggirr Country Uncle Bud Marshall brought a successful application to the Land and Environment Court (L&EC) that halted logging at the Newry State Forest on 22 August. They were supported by Gumbaynggirr elders Aunty Alison and Aunty Lauren.

The Judge accepted an undertaking from Forestry to stop all logging in the forest to allow for a site inspection by Gumbaynggirr Elders of sacred and significant sites in the forest that the NSW Forestry had been logging. It had been arranged for the elders to go for the inspection on Friday, 1 September, however, at the last minute they were contacted by NSW Forestry to cancel the site inspection.

The Judge also accepted an undertaking that the stop on logging should extend to the substantial hearing set down for November 14, 16 and 17 in the L&EC.

‘Last night (31 August) Forestry said they were going to call off the site inspection, then they said they wanted to delay for another two weeks. They are due back in court on Tuesday (5 September) and the site inspection is supposed to have taken place,’ said Al Oshlack, from the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network who helped organise the stop work order. [my yellow highlighting]

‘We had a driver organised and they were going to go out to a number of sites in Newry Forest today (Friday, 1 September). Everyone is really upset because they have been locked out for a long time by Forestry with fences and cameras etc in place.’

Mr Oshlack told The Echo that Forestry appears to use a person named Mr Potter to sign off on their cultural heritage requirements. However, Mr Oshlack said they have been unable to find any Gumbaynggirr people who either know Mr Potter or who have been consulted about sacred and cultural sites in the area by Forestry NSW.

‘We have been asking around to find out if anyone knows who Mr Potter is but we haven’t been able to find anyone who knows this person so far,’ Mr Oshlack said.

‘I spoke to Gumbaynggirr people who have been looking for him and they said “We went to five different Gumbaynggirr families and no one has heard of him.”….

The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 September 2023:

Professor Helge Bruelheide, professor of botany at the University of Helle in Germany, was stunned by what he has seen exploring the forests in and around the promised Great Koala National Park on the state’s North Coast this week.

“It is spectacular. All the variants of this Gondwana rainforest – cool and warm, temperate rainforest and also the subtropical rainforest – is something that is so unique globally that you wouldn’t find it in this particular combination elsewhere,” said Breulheide, one of the leading scientists in his field, who visited with 30 of his colleagues from around the world as they prepared for a conference on forest preservation to be held in Coffs Harbour next week.

Professor Helge Bruelheide at Border Ranges National Park, north of the proposed Great Koala National Park.

“It’s incredible walking through the forest and seeing a different tree every 5 meters. It is unique in the world. And it is also ancient, what we have seen remnants of a vegetation that is long gone on Earth. Australia is a bit of an ark conserving this fantastic biodiversity.

“I mean, I knew that from the books but touching it and seeing these wonderful trees is something different. We were completely shocked that this was being logged for paper pulp and timber. Particularly this type of forest, we really couldn’t understand that.” [my yellow highlighting]

It was not just the fact of the logging that stunned, but Bruelheide, but the nature of it. Rather than so-called single-stem logging that is common in places like Germany, where single trees are targeted and removed, loggers here take out whole sections, leaving behind a few trees in compartments (a section of forest identified for logging) that have been identified as critical feed or habitat trees for some endangered species.

“I feel like I was time travelling back to the 60s when this was all over the place,” says Breulheide of what he saw inside a patch of the Moonpar State Forest identified on the Forestry Corporation website as Section 345…..

Overview of a Moonpar State Forest Section 345 in May 2023

Moonpar State Forest Section 345
IMAGE: via @CloudsCreek, 7 May 2023

Closer view of segment of Moonpar State Forest Section 345, May 2023, showing felled native trees. SNAPSHOT: Google Earth Pro

Click on images to enlarge

The Minns Labor Government – one step forward three steps back

 

A brief look at the Minns Labor Government six weeks into its term in office…...

PROMISE KEPT

The West Australian, 24 March 2023:

If elected, Mr Minns said his first act of legislation would be to put “Sydney Water in the NSW constitution, stopping future governments enacting a backdoor fire sale” of state-owned assets…..

The Constitution Amendment (Sydney Water and Hunter Water) Bill 2023 was introduced into the NSW Parliament on 10 May and passed by both Houses on 1 June 2023

BROKEN PROMISE ONE

Shepparton News, 12 December 2022:

A NSW Labor government would legislate an end to the practice of rent bidding, to curb the spiralling cost of tenancy.

The promise ahead of the March election comes amid skyrocketing Sydney rents as well as those in regional areas, with NSW's median rent increasing from $386 to $420 a week between 2016 and 2021.

With one in three NSW households now renters, Opposition Leader Chris Minns says Labor has prepared legislation banning secret bidding, a practice where prospective tenants are pitted against one another to secure properties…..

Ending the practice of ‘rent bidding’ placed in the too hard basket in the first week of June 2023

ON THE ROAD TO A BROKEN PROMISE TWO

The New South Wales Labor party will establish a new national park stretching from Kempsey to Coffs Harbour in a bid to save the state’s endangered koala population.

On Thursday the opposition leader, Chris Minns, will announce that the party will re-commit to establishing the “great koala national park” on the NSW north coast, which could see an area of about 300,000 hectares of key habitat for the native species protected from logging.

The park, which Labor has promised in the past two state elections, is likely to anger the timber and logging industry, which has previously claimed it would cost the state thousands of jobs. Other estimates claim the park would add about $1bn to the state’s economy over 15 years.

The Minns Government is spinning its wheels on this promise – seemingly by design - as Forests NSW lay waste to prime koala habitat within the precincts of the proposed “Great Koala National Park”. The term Extinction Crisis appears to mean little to this new crop of state ministers even if they are part of the Australian Labor Party.

BREAKING: Two women lock-on continues to stop logging in Orara East State Forest for a 2nd day.https://t.co/VU4X8XJZ4l
Today Tiff and Ruby have immobilised the forest harvester that was meant to be felling trees within the GKNP.
🐨 #GKNP #EndNativeForestLogging #nswpol pic.twitter.com/KqGO0HJUMt

— Australian Forests and Climate Alliance (@AFCA_Forests) June 7, 2023

BROKEN PROMISE THREE

Byron Echo, 15 February 2023:

According to Labor leader Chris Minns, ‘NSW has experienced an escalating number of major flood events in recent years’.

‘It’s increasingly clear that we cannot continue to develop and build on dangerous floodplains, and risk putting more people in harm’s way…..

‘NSW Labor will adopt a proactive approach to planning and mitigating against the impact of floods and charge one minister with the responsibility of stopping further development on dangerous floodplains…..

Coastal development continues apace on large coastal floodplains with no attempt by the Minns Government to curb this risky practice. This is but one example....

IMAGE: The Daily Telegraph, 3 May 2023

Unfortunately, this is not an exhaustive list of issues.

NSW GOVERNMENT 'NORTHERN RIVERS RESILIENT LAND STRATEGY' STATE OF PLAY 2023: in its current form not worth the paper it is printed on

 

Northern Rivers Resilient Lands Strategy –Summary Report: Helping provide a safer, more sustainable and more resilient Northern Rivers, 1 June 2023:

The Northern Rivers Resilient Lands Strategy is part of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC)’s $100 million Resilient Lands Program.

The Resilient Lands Program is part of a suite of measures the NRRC is coordinating to deliver a sustainable supply of land and housing for flood

impacted residents in high risk areas in the Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed Local Government Areas.

The Resilient Lands Program has been designed to complement, not replace, business-as-usual land release and housing development in the region. The Resilient Land Strategy identifies land that will be accelerated for delivery with funding support provided under the Program.

The Resilient Lands Program is being delivered in conjunction with the NRRC’s $700 million Resilient Homes Program that focuses on raising, retrofitting and voluntary purchase of homes impacted by the 2022 floods.

After the Acknowledgement Of Country the aforementioned four short paragraphs are the NSW Government, Dept. of Regional NSW & Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC)’s introduction to its long awaited draft resilient lands strategy.

It goes on in the Foreword to state:

The Strategy identifies 22 sites that could support

climate resilient residential development across each

of the Northern Rivers Local Government Areas. Fifteen

sites have been earmarked for immediate on-ground

investigations, to enable flood impacted residents to

move out of areas severely impacted by the 2022 floods.

The Strategy also identifies a further seven sites of

strategic significance for long-term resilience. These

sites that are identified as potentially suitable for

development in the longer term may help reduce the

need to undertake a similar region-wide land suitability

assessment should future natural disasters occur in

the Northern Rivers.

The authors of this draft document end the eight paragraph Foreword with a nausea inducing bout of self-congratulation:

The Resilient Lands Expert Panel, who has assisted in

the preparation of the document, is thankful that our

skills and professional expertise have been able to

contribute to the recovery initiative but humbled by the

experience of people who lived through the flood event,

many of whom remain impacted. We hope that this

document will assist in ensuring that safe and secure

accommodation can be made available for all affected

going forward.

That last paragraph on Page 5 completed setting the tone for what is essentially a twenty-four page collection of pious wishes, vaguely-worded ‘plans’ and the carefully worded announcement of a funding feeding frenzy by land speculators and both private & corporate property developers.

Given the political influence of the development & construction industry lobbies, it is easy to suspect that ‘affordable housing’ will be taking a back seat in the NSW Minns Labor Government’s specific plans for north-east New South Wales – albeit these plans were inherited from the Berejiklian-Perrottet Coalition Government which preceded it.

At Pages 7 & 8 the draft document states:

Land identified in the Strategy was also reviewed by the Resilient Lands Expert Panel (the Panel), an independent panel of experts with backgrounds in urban planning, environmental management, community development, Indigenous knowledge and climate resilience.

The Panel’s recommendations identified 22 short, medium and long-term development sites across the seven Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed with potential capacity for up to 10,300 dwellings.

Work has now commenced on the planning and delivery of the 15 short-term sites identified within the Strategy. This will ensure residents impacted by the 2022 floods can relocate to new housing as soon as possible.

The Strategy also identifies a further seven medium and long-term sites for broader regional planning efforts to support longer term community resilience.

What does the Resilient Lands Strategy mean for

residents impacted by the floods?

The Strategy identifies a total of 22 potential development sites across the Northern Rivers on both private and public land. Fifteen sites are for immediate investigation for flood impacted residents with capacity for approximately 7,800 dwellings. Seven further sites with capacity for approximately 2,500 dwellings have been identified as sites of strategic significance for longer term resilience…..

Why doesn’t the NRRC just acquire and develop land?

In some instances, acquisition and development of land by government will have a role to play under the Program. However, using a range of approaches that aim to remove barriers and encourage the delivery of land and housing by the development sector and government will maximise housing supply outcomes across the region.

For example, using the entire $100 million available under the Resilient Lands Program to acquire land and develop housing could be expected to deliver approximately 200–300 dwellings to the market over the next three to four years.

On the other hand, a modest, up-front investment by government to deliver important water and sewer infrastructure upgrades that are preventing the release of land can unlock significant housing supply and better support the feasibility and delivery of residential development areas.

Taking an approach that is tailored to the characteristics of each individual site will ensure the Program delivers the most housing in the right locations as possible.

Where any financial support is provided to the development sector through the Resilient Lands Program, it will be conditional on prioritising access to any new housing for flood affected residents.

I think that the Labor MLA for Lismore Janelle Saffin put it best when she told ABC News on Friday, 2 May 2023:

Ms Saffin said the corporation's communication skills left many questions unanswered.

"We are desperate for detail, our community that has been physically and psychologically battered, and this doesn't give us any more detail about when, time frames, how, who," Ms Saffin said.

"I've been a very vocal critic of the NRRC's inability to communicate and this release just highlights it even more."….

"We've all watched the series Utopia [and] the idea of comms management is not to do anything," Ms Saffin said.

While Greens MLA For Ballina Tamara Smith was quoted in The Guardian on the same day:

The MP for Ballina, Tamara Smith, called on the government to release better maps that provide more detail.

“How can we as a community make informed submissions about what will be huge new residential developments when we don’t actually know where they are?” she said.

“Our community deserves utter transparency and I am disappointed that we are not getting more information in order to make meaningful submissions to the draft.”

In another section of that article these succinct quotes also mirrored the feelings of more than a few locals:

A mayor who spoke to Guardian Australia on condition of anonymity said they believed the government was being “very optimistic” with its goals, calling the lack of detail so far provided to councils and the community “really crap”.

This is an example of mapping used in the draft document at Pages 15 to 22:

It would appear that the state government and its agencies are determined to play those land strategy cards close to their chest and at the same time minimise whatever negative media reports may emerge.

It is doing this by treating the entire Northern Rivers regional population of est. 312,747 men, women and children (.idcommunity, 2022) as so many mushrooms which need to be kept in the dark. At the same time holding a media briefing in which the Draft Resilient Lands Strategy was explained in some detail (accompanied by visual aids) and all journalists questions answered—under a total ban on dissemination of said information by said journalists.

This Northern Rivers resident’s assessment of the state of play in June 2023?

The NSW Government, Dept. of Regional NSW and Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation have provided local government and communities with:

1. no genuine time frame;

2. broad statements but no real details;

3. an incorrect assessment of some land being shovel ready for development in 2024;

4. maps so ill-defined that they are all but useless in identifying which land is to be developed;

5. no outline of the type/number/provisional costings of tenders that might be required for land preparation and supporting infrastructure or tenders which have already been approved; and

6. an unrealistic expectation that this particular Resilient Lands Strategy can deliver what has been promised to the people of the Northern Rivers region.