Individual wealth in the NSW Northern Rivers region

Richmond and Page federal electorates in the Northern Rivers region ranked 24th and 112th respectively when it come to net wealth per capita and median net wealth by the end of 2019.

In Richmond half the individual interviewees had net wealth of $325k or less and in Page half had $175k or less.

The highest indivdual average net wealth was unsurprisingly found in the electorates of Wentworth (Liberal MP Dave Sharma), Warringah (Independent MP Zali Steggall), Bradfield (Liberal MP & Minister Paul Fletcher), North Sydney (Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman), Mackellar (Liberal MP Jason Falinski) and Cook (Liberal MP & Prime Minister Scott Morrison).

The current COVID-19 pandemic is likely to significantly change net wealth across many electorates in this table.

Roy Morgan, 1 May 2020

24 months to December 2019, average 12-month sample, n = 50,431

Personal Net Wealth is calculated by subtracting debt from assets, predominantly equity in owner-occupied homes, plus superannuation.

Healthy surfing rules during COVID-19 pandemic

Surfing Australia, April 2020:

Surfing is fun, and a great way to get your daily exercise. It’s also non-contact and easily done by yourself whilst following the physical distancing rules, if we all adjust a few things together. 

EIGHT STEP SURFING ADVICE 

1. Surf the spot closest to your home ONLY. 

2. Wax up and prepare at home. Put on your wetsuit, boardies and other gear at home before driving to the beach. 

3. Follow physical distancing at all times coming and going to the beach. For example, if you have a narrow path to the beach wait an extra minute for it to clear before you walk down. 

4. Have a surf and leave immediately, don't chat with mates in the car park. Call them on your phone. 

5. If the surfing spot is overcrowded - don’t go out 6. 

Don’t paddle next to someone like you would normally. Give them more space. 

7. CRITICAL CHANGE – take it in turns. Do not paddle back over to the peak after catching a wave. Wait your turn patiently on the shoulder. 

8. Don’t change in the parking lot. Wrap your towel around yourself & go home. 

SPECIAL NOTE: Some beach closures have been a direct result of the public not making an effort to follow social distancing rules. Not all beaches are equal as it relates to observing social distancing rules and regulations. A local council's decision to close a beach is made up of multiple factors outside of 'surfing as exercise'. These decisions need to be respected by the surfing community.

By 24 April 2020 there were 1,346,172 unemployed people across Australia, at least 500,000 of whom had lost their jobs due to the pandemic

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in January 2020 there were est. 778,700‬ people of workforce age who were unemployed in Australia and, est. 207,200 (26.6%) of these were New South Wales residents.

By 24 April 2020 there were est. 1,346,172 unemployed people (between the ages of 15 to 64 years) spread across the nation and, it is likely that unemployed people in New South Wales then exceeded est. 224,700 individuals.

The national figure represents an additional 567,472 unemployed people between January and late April - with an est. 500,000 of this number out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initial results in a Monash Univerity ongoing study suggests that 90% of those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 public health restrictions/changed economic climate were given less than one week's notice and of those 44.7% received no notice at all.

Processing unemployment benefit applications for over half a million extra Australians in need is taking time and, est. 317,597 applications were still outstanding on 24 April.

Apart from an initial $750 economic support payment for those receiving Jobseeker (previously Newstart), no enhanced unemployment benefits or JobKeeper* subsidised wage payments commenced until after 27 April 2020, with some payments not due to be received until 11 May [See Senate Select Committee on COVID-19, public hearing transcript, 30 April 2020, p.22]. 

Which means that, commencing on 28 February, between est. 20,320 to 249,875 Australian citizens had been without income support** and those single people on unemployment benefits had been struggling to live on as little as est. $18-$40 per day.

According to a Senate estimates hearing on 30 April, est. 400,000 more people are expected to lose their jobs by September 2020, at which time the unemployment rate is predicted to be around 13 per cent.

Goldman Sachs analysts are reportedly predicting an effective unemployment rate*** of 19 per cent by June-July.

Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison is adamant that once the pandemic crisis passes all enhanced unemployment benefit rates will return to pre-pandemic levels - he is less clear about where the est. 1.74 million out of work Australians will be able to find a job.

Note:

* As of 28 April 2020 an est. 540,000 businesses have registered for the JobKeeper wage subsidisation scheme. The est. 3.3 million workers in these businesses are considered employed. JobKeeper wage payments to workers are subject to tax which is witheld by employers before payment is made.

** This last figure does not take into consideration unemployed non-citizens on student or work visas who are ineligible to apply for unemployment benefits.

*** An effective unemployment rate takes into consideration those who have had their hours of paid worik reduced, those who have given up looking for work since they lost their jobs and, those receiving JobKeeper payments but whose employer has temporarily ceased operating or is not operating at full capacity and therefore they are not going to work.

Pandemic bullies come in all shapes & sizes

The shrivelled soul of small business in Australia was on view in April 2020.....

Image found on Twitter

The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 April 2020:

A chamber of commerce on Sydney's north shore has been forced to back down from comments demanding local businesses refuse entry to customers and staff who had not downloaded the COVIDSafe tracing app. 

Ku-ring-gai Chamber of Commerce secretary Peter Vickers said he emailed between 1500 to 2000 businesses across its local government area on Monday directing them to ensure their customers had downloaded the app....

But Mr Vickers followed this email with another in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after some of the email's recipients informed him that such a direction was illegal.  

The federal rules governing the app's operation state that a person must not coerce another into downloading the app, or refuse them entry or services on the grounds they have not done so. 

Mr Vickers clarified in the subsequent email that businesses should only encourage people to install the app, while also taking aim at federal Health Minister Greg Hunt's decision to make the app voluntary. 

"In fact he (Mr Hunt) should have ordered Apple and Android to compulsorily download the app to all phones in Australia," Mr Vickers wrote. 

"The government forced businesses to close and even had the police chase sunbathers down the beach. They should be using the same force to open up again."..... 

He said the fact the app was optional should give businesses the right to refuse service. 

"You don't have to download the app but businesses should have the freedom to say we don't want infected people coming into our businesses."

A reminder that in the middle of a pandemic the old problems remain for land & climate

On 24 April 2020 the NSW Dept. of Primary Industries recorded that 64.6 per cent of the NSW North Coast is still in drought, 21 per cent is drought affected and 14.1 per cent no longer in drought.

This is the Clarence Valley showing by sector In Drought (light ochre to dark orche), Drought Affected (light to darker grey) and Non Drought (green tones):

Clarence Valley LGA outlined by sector
Data current to 24/4/2020 (AEST)

Analysis by NASA shows the NSW fires emitted about 195m tonnes of CO2 from 1 August to December 2019.

Permissions for logging in 2019-2020 firegrounds have been granted by NSW Berejiklian Government.

Cartoons of the Week

David Pope

Eric Löbbecke

Coastal freighter torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in WWII has been discovered off Crescent Head NSW

During World War Two 19 merchant vessels were sunk in NSW coastal waters.

On 27 April 2020 it was announced that the wreck of one of these ships - sunk by torpedo with only 5 survivors out of a crew 37 - had been found off Cresent Head.

The Wollongbar II was a single screw steamship owned by the North Coast Steam Navigation Company Ltd. At 2239 tons and 87 metres in length, the vessel had been built at Lithgow’s Ltd shipyard at Port Glasgow, Scotland in 1922. Wollongbar II was built to replace an earlier steamer of the same name wrecked at Belongil Beach, Byron Bay in 1921. IMAGE: NSW Government Premier & Cabinet information sheet.

The Daily Examiner, 29 April 2020, p.5:

A coastal freighter torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in WWII has been discovered off Crescent Head. 

Acting Minister for Veterans Geoff Lee said the SS Wollongbar II was confirmed by archaeologists from Heritage NSW after it was reported by the local community. 

“In 1943 a Japanese submarine, the I-180, destroyed the freight vessel with two torpedos killing 32 people on board,” said Mr Lee..... 

Director of Heritage Operations at Heritage NSW Tim Smith OAM said the discovery would reveal some amazing stories. 

“We want relatives of those who sailed on the SS Wollongbar II to get in contact, so we can share findings of the survey conducted by our archaeologists,” Mr Smith said.

Recent changes to COVID-19 gathering & travelling rules

NSW Premier, media release, 28 April 2020:

Update on COVID-19 restrictions

The NSW Government has announced an update on COVID-19 restrictions and how our schools and retail outlets will look for the month of May.

There will be three key changes that will take effect across NSW next month:

1. From Friday, 1 May up to two adults and their dependent children will be allowed to visit another household.
2. We will see a return of face-to-face teaching from 11 May, and then will consider accelerating a full return to school as soon as possible.
3. There have never been restrictions in NSW on what people can and cannot buy, however there may be increased retail activity, with some businesses choosing to re-open. It is important these shops maintain social distancing and hygiene requirements.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said this update on visits to households has been made to reduce social isolation and improve mental health.

“It extends the existing guidelines of being able to leave home for ‘care or medical purposes’,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“The two adults need not be related.

“The last thing any of us want to see is a huge spike in cases.

“We need anyone with even the mildest of symptoms anywhere in NSW to stay home and come forward for testing.”

There is no limit on how far you can travel within NSW so long as you respect the rules and the reason is consistent with one of the four categories for leaving home.

It is important when visiting another household social distancing is maintained and extra hygiene precautions are taken. When visiting, meeting in an outdoor environment such as home garden, backyard or verandah will help reduce the risk.

If you are visiting those aged over 70 or those with underlying health conditions we are urging you to be extra vigilant with social distancing and hygiene measures.

It is also important to remember that you do not visit anyone if you or they are unwell, even if you have mild symptoms like fatigue or a scratchy throat.

The two-person gathering limit still applies to public places.

Read about what you can and can't do under the rules.

North Coast Public Health Unit reminding Northern NSW residents to protect themselves against mosquitoes which remain in high numbers late in the season

Northern NSW Local Health District, media release, 27 April 2020:

The North Coast Public Health Unit is reminding residents of Northern NSW to protect themselves against mosquitoes which remain in high numbers late in the season.

“Mosquitoes have persisted in large numbers through to early autumn, along with the warm weather in recent weeks,” Paul Williamson, Senior Environmental Health Officer, said.

The NSW Arbovirus Surveillance and Mosquito Monitoring Program recently detected Barmah Forest virus and Ross River virus in mosquitoes in the Northern NSW area. Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses are common on the north coast and are transmitted by infected mosquitoes.

So far this year, 32 north coast residents have been diagnosed with Barmah Forest virus infection and 153 with Ross River virus infections, which is two and three times the number of infections, respectively, for the same period last year. One hundred and nineteen of these infections have been reported in the last four weeks, which is six times the number reported in the same period last year.

“These infections can cause symptoms including tiredness, rash, fever, and sore and swollen joints. The symptoms usually resolve after several days, but some people may experience these symptoms for weeks or even months,” Mr Williamson said.

Avoiding mosquito bites will be especially important until cooler weather brings an end to the mosquito-breeding season.

Whilst most people are at home due to current movement restrictions, many people are heading outdoors early or late in the day to get some exercise.

“Mosquitoes are very active at these times so protect yourself from being bitten by mosquitoes when out-and-about.”

Simple steps to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes include:

• Cover up as much as possible when outside with light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing and covered footwear.
• Use an effective insect repellent on exposed skin. Re-apply repellent within a few hours, as protection wears off with perspiration. The best mosquito repellents contain Diethyl Toluamide (DEET) or Picaridin. Botanical based products (e.g. eucalyptus, citronella etc.) provide only limited periods of protection.
• Use physical barriers such as netting on prams, cots and play areas for babies. Repellents should not be used on the skin of children under the age of three months.
• Check the product label of repellents for recommended age of use. Most skin repellents are safe to use for children over the age of 3 months or older. Some formulations are only suitable for children over 12 months.
• Use insecticide sprays, vapour dispensing units (indoors) and mosquito coils (outdoors) to clear rooms or repel mosquitoes from an area.
• Cover all windows, doors, vents and other entrances with insect screens.
• Remove and prevent mosquito breeding sites around the home, such as emptying containers that hold water.

“Preventing infection with these viruses depends on avoiding mosquito bites, especially as the mosquitoes have become active after recent rain, warm days and high tides,” Mr Williamson said.

Fact sheets are available from the NSW Health website: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/mosquito.aspx

Weekly reports are available during the arbovirus season from the New South Wales Arbovirus Surveillance and Mosquito Monitoring Program: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/pests/vector/Pages/nswasp-weekly-report-2019-20.aspx

Is this the youngest 'wanted man' involved in a car pursuit in Coffs-Clarence Police District?

From The Daily Examiner, 28 April 2020, p.5:

Officers were notified and engaged in a pursuit with the taxi before road spikes were deployed on the Pacific Highway at Moonee Beach. A -year-old man was arrested after short foot pursuit.

*Animated gif found at Google Images

Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Inc. commences a civil enforcement proceeding in NSW Land and Environment Court to compel the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions

Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Incorprated is a group of bushfire survivors, firefighters, local councillors who have joined together to demand the Government take immediate action on climate change.

The group says of itself: "We have come together because we have lost our homes and our communities to bushfires and we want action. We are sick of waiting and we won’t put up with half-measures anymore. The Government can no longer ignore the way their climate change denial is hurting our communities and putting lives at risk. They must take Australia beyond coal projects like Adani and move to 100% renewable energy for all."

On 20 April 2020 Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Inc. brought a civil enforcement proceeding in the Land and Environment Court to compel the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The proceedings seek to force the EPA to establish a climate policy, based on its statutory role which includes a requirement to prepare policies to protect the environment. The group will be arguing that the EPA as lead environment regulator in NSW failed to establish such policies in relation to climate change.

The outcome of this case is of particular interest to communities in the NSW Northern Rivers region given the mega wildfires of the 2019-2020 bushfire season and the environmental devastation/property loss/social dsiruption in their wake.

On 27 April 2020 The Daily Examiner reported:

Any notion that climate change is an issue that can be dealt with effectively in some distant future has been shown to be untenable given events of the past few years. 

Extreme weather events, severe droughts and longer and more catastrophic bushfire seasons have shown more people there is a connection between these events and the growing carbon emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere. 

Australians concerned about climate change are becoming increasingly frustrated with the ostrich-like attitudes of many politicians and government agencies. 

One group that is taking legal action in an attempt to force a NSW government agency to do more on climate change is Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, which is taking the Environmental ­Protection Agency to court ­because of its failure to better protect communities. 

Group president Jo Dodds said all members had experienced a bushfire first-hand. They believed climate change was a major contributing factor to the cause and growing intensity of bushfires in Australia. 

She said the issue wasn’t being taken seriously enough and “there’s a sense that the bushfires are over and we can get back to normal life after COVID-19 – but the fires are going to come harder and more frequently”. 

The Environmental Defenders Office is representing the group. EDO chief executive David Morris said the EPA had “a statutory mandate to protect the environment … but the EPA don’t have a current policy to regulate greenhouse gas emissions”. 

“Those two things can’t coexist,” he said. “We’re simply asking the court to tell the EPA go and create environmental quality objectives with respect to greenhouse gas emissions, regulate the pollution and use their existing powers to do so.” 

According to the EDO, the EPA is in a unique position. As an agency “with teeth”, it has the power to issue licences to control pollution, as well as put caps and prices on substances that are harmful to the environment. 

The case is listed in the NSW Land and Environment Court in Sydney on May 8. 

Leonie Blain, Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition

Covid-19 deniers come from the same anti-science stable as climate change deniers?

DeSmog blog, Executive Summary, 22 April 2019:

“Government should be doing little or next to nothing,” Richard Ebeling wrote in a post about COVID-19 republished on March 24 by the Heartland Institute. “The problem is a social and medical one, and not a political one.”

“I just think we're going to be fine. I think everything is going to be fine,” Heartland editorial director and research fellow Justin Haskins said about COVID-19 during a March 13 episode of the podcast In the Tank. “I really don't think this is going to be a problem even two to three months from now.”

On Dec. 31, 2019, “a pneumonia of unknown cause” was first reported to the World Health Organization’s China Country Office — and in the months following that report, the disease now known as COVID-19 spread to infect millions of people worldwide and seems well on its way to killing hundreds of thousands — while experts warn that the presumed death toll may be significantly higher than we yet know.

As the virus spread, so too did misinformation: baseless predictions that the disease would not cause significant harm, claims of miracle cures, and conspiracy theories about the virus’s origins. That misinformation was often circulated by white-collar professionals — including many who have a history of casting doubt on climate science or seeking to debate issues that were already laid to rest within the scientific community. The overlap was so striking that it caught the attention of both former President Barack Obama and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel in March.

Some of that misinformation on COVID-19 came straight from President Trump. But a river of faulty information on the coronavirus also flowed from think tanks, experts (some self-proclaimed), academics, and professional right-wing activists who also have spurned climate science and sought to slow or stop action to respond to the climate crisis.

Some compared COVID-19 to the flu or other threats, suggesting that the flu was a larger threat and that action to slow the spread of the novel virus was an overreaction. As the toll from COVID-19 grew, others argued that the virus was the most important threat and that action to slow climate change was superfluous. Some circulated false or unproven cures and remedies while others touted the benefits of single-use plastics during the pandemic (without regard for the health of those living in places where plastics and petrochemicals are produced — like Saint John the Baptist parish, Louisiana, which on April 16, had the highest per-person COVID-19 death rate in the U.S.)

Some attacked renewable energy, some the Green New Deal, and others the World Health Organization (WHO). Some framed efforts to “flatten the curve” of infections as infringements on liberty or simply unnecessary while others persisted in using terms that the WHO has warned can lead to dangerous stigma and discrimination. And some climate science deniers have circulated conspiracy theories, like claims that the virus was a foreign “bioweapon,” that it’s linked to “electrosmog” and 5G networks, or alleged that “the World Health Organization has carried out the greatest fraud perhaps in modern history.”

The decades that fossil fuel companies spent funding organizations that sought to undermine the conclusions of credible climate scientists and building up doubt about science itself ultimately created a network of professional science deniers who are now deploying some of the same skills they honed on climate against the public health crisis at the center of our attention today.

Many of the operatives spreading COVID disinformation have influence because of the fossil fuel industry.

• People like Steve Milloy and Patrick Michaels and organizations like  the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), The Heartland and Manhattan Institutes gained influence in the early heyday of climate science denial when the fossil fuel industry made a broad and concerted effort to mislead the public about global warming.
• We’re now seeing many of the same people and organizations utilize the tactics they honed in the 1990s to foment doubt about the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
• Many of the organizations now spreading misinformation received funding from fossil fuel companies and/or trade groups for years or even decades, as DeSmog and others have previously documented (e.g. Reason Foundation, Independent Institute, Texas Public Policy Foundation, etc.).....

COVID denial should forever discredit climate science deniers.

• These attempts to exploit a global pandemic to further the climate denial machine’s anti-science agenda will mean loss of life, and unnecessarily imperil frontline medical personnel by allowing the virus to spread further and more quickly. 
• Some climate deniers have pushed outright conspiracy theories on COVID-19: claiming, as Piers Corbyn did, that the pandemic is a “world population cull” backed by Bill Gates and George Soros; alleging, as a former member of British Parliament did, that COVID-19 is just a “big hoax”; or, like Alex Jones, seeking to profit directly off of COVID-19 through false marketing, according to the Food and Drug Administration and the New York Attorney General, both of which have warned Jones to desist from marketing a toothpaste he claimed “kills the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range.”
• Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit claiming that COVID-19 “was prepared and stockpiled as a biological weapon to be used against China’s perceived enemies.” Principia Scientific International claimed that economies were about to be shut down because “the WHO Director caused a global coronavirus panic over a basic math error,” (referring to early World Health Organization fatality rate numbers). Steve Milloy tweeted out a link to a New York Times op-ed by Dr. Cornelia Griggs, who described working in a New York City hospital amid the pandemic, calling her a “Hysterical doc” and writing “Stop the panic.” (Less than a week later, Milloy tweeted that “#Coronavirus has given us the #GreenDream: —Deprivation — Destroyed economy — Police state”). On April 10 — at a time when over 92,000 deaths had been reported worldwide — Bjorn Lomborg wrote that “Significant data indicate corona is no worse than the common flu.” And former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani tweeted out a list of leading causes of death on March 10, writing “Likely at the very bottom, Coronavirus: 27.” Six weeks later, more than 14,400 people in New York City had died after contracting the virus.
• Not only does their pandemic messaging undermine climate science deniers’ credibility, it also puts on display some of the faulty thinking that can be seen in their discussions of both topics — you see the same logical fallacies at play. There’s the rejection of basic modeling techniques (and early models on both COVID-19 and on climate have ultimately proved tragically accurate). There’s a failure to grasp the ways that an exponential problem can accelerate. There’s a willingness to make assertions that aren’t supported by evidence as well as a willingness to issue blanket assurances that things will be fine without taking into account the evidence. And there’s a reliance on ad hominem attacks and innuendo. These communications tactics used on both issues mirror each other.
• The individuals and organizations responsible for spreading disinformation on climate science and COVID-19 will forever cement their reputations on the wrong side of history....

In this series

• COVIDenial Executive Summary 
• COVID-19 Denial
• COVID-19 & Climate Comparisons
• Give Me Freedom or Give Me COVID 
• Climate Deniers & the 'China Virus' 
• Climate Deniers & Coronavirus 'Cures' 
• COVID-19 & Fossil Fuel Promoters 
• COVID-19 & Plastic Promoters 
• COVID Deniers & Attacks on Renewables
• COVID-19 Denier Attacks on WHO 
• COVID Denier Conspiracy Theories

Morrison Government's new virus contact tracing app

On the evening of Sunday 26 April 2020 the Morrison Coalition Government released its COVID-19 contact tracing app "COVIDSafe" for download and installation on mobile phones by the Australia public.

The stated intention for the release of this app is to widely surveil the Australian population with the aim of tracing persons who have been in contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases.

This release did not come after the promised full disclosure of the app source code. Indeed this source code if or when it is finally released will be a redacted version.

It did not come backed by a full legislative framework which had been scrutinised by the Australian Parliament. 

It came with a ministerial determination which had been published at one minute before midnight on Saturday 25 April 2020 and a one page website containing two download links, a link to "Privacy policy" and another to "Help topics".

It also came after the unannounced release of the promised Privacy Impact Assessment sometime on 25 April 2020.

Despite being assured that no federal agency can access data collected by COVIDSafe, one federal agency the Digital Transformation Agency has official permission to access data in certain situations.

To effectively use the app on a mobile phone Bluetooth has to be activated and some phones will be required to run the app in the foreground, others may find it can be run in the background. Recharging may have to happen more often and some existing phone functions may not always perform well.

Every mobile phone user with this app "will receive daily notifications to ensure the COVIDSafe app is running".

Once installed the app can be automatically updated (including with additional app functions) without notification to the user, unless automatic updates have been blocked on Google Play or Apple App Store.

It is up to each citizen and permanent resident to make their own decision concerning the downloading of this app as use of the app is voluntary.

UPDATE

Despite the Morrison Government insisting that "the COVIDSafe app does not collect your location", according to Google Play this app has GPS and network based functions so a mobile phone's precise location can be identified.

Looking at the faces of people US President Donald Trump choses as props for his media appearances

https://youtu.be/X_PKpKQ8Ltk

The Atlantic, 26 April 2020:

Donald Trump loves attention, and people can’t help but give it to him. It’s been this way for a generation. Television cameras and tabloids were trained on him long before he was president, and even more so now. In the three years since he took office, it can sometimes seem impossible to look away. But I’ve always found that paying attention to the people around Trump is far more revealing than watching the man himself.

Byron DA on land subject to coastal erosion?

Echo NetDaily, 23 April 2020:

A DA for 33 housing lots on the upmarket Linnaeus Estate at Broken Head remains 
on the table despite containing fundamental legal errors. Photo www.linnaeus.com.au

A Development Application (DA) for 33 housing lots on the upmarket Linnaeus Estate at Broken Head remains on the table despite containing fundamental legal errors, after a majority of Byron Shire councillors voted to defer the matter, rather than refusing it outright as Council planning staff recommended.

The councillors’ decision also puts them at odds with many affected neighbours, who supported staff recommendations. 

In February last year, the owners of the idyllic estate applied for an amendment to Byron’s Local Environment Plan to allow for a community title development comprising 33 lots, each with a minimum size of 250 m2.

It wasn’t until after the DA had received gateway approval from the NSW planning department and completed its four-week public exhibition that Council staff realised there was a ‘fundamental error’ in the way the existing and proposed controls for the site applied in the context of its ‘Special Activities’ zoning.

According to the staff report in the agenda to last week’s Council planning meeting, this error stemmed from advice Council received from the planning department.

‘Additionally, the way in which Byron’s LEP regulates community title subdivision in the SP1 (Special Activities) zone was not fully understood when the department issued the Gateway determination’, Council staff member Steve Daniels said in the report.

‘Council has commissioned legal advice on this matter which establishes that the proposed amendment to Byron LEP 2014 is redundant.’......

The legal advice also revealed that part of the site earmarked for housing in the DA was in fact ‘highly likely’ to be a coastal erosion zone. 

The Linnaeus Estate is located between Broken head and Lennox Head, and is some of the last littoral rainforest adjoining the coastline in NSW.....

According to Byron Shire Council minutes of 16 April 2020 the vote to keep this DA alive went thus:

The motion (Richardson/Spooner) was put to the vote and declared carried. Crs Coorey, Martin, Lyon, Ndiaye, Richardson, Cameron, Hackett, Spooner and Hunter voted in favour of the motion. No Councillors voted against the motion.