Clarence
Valley Independent,
18 April 2022:
Environmental
watchdog, Valley Watch, first began predicting flooding of Yamba, as
a result of developing West Yamba, in about 1995; on Sunday May 21,
the group will present a more than 1,000-signature petition to the
mayor, Ian Tiley (or his proxy), calling for a moratorium on further
filling and development approvals on the Yamba floodplain.
“Basically,
the petition is demanding a well-designed master plan for West
Yamba,” Valley Watch spokesperson Helen Tyas Tunggal said.
During
the record rain that fell during February and March, many homes and
properties were flooded for the first time, some of which were built
within the past 20 years, theoretically above any threat of flooding.
Ms
Tyas Tunggal couldn’t have been more succinct speaking with the
Sydney Morning Herald in March 2007, when she expressed a view now
apparent to many Yamba residents.
“When
you raise the ground level, the displaced water has to go somewhere,”
she said, when referring to the estimated 270,000 truckloads of fill
needed to accommodate future West Yamba development.
“Other
more established areas of town will flood as a result.”
As
it happens, Cr Tiley, who was the mayor at the time, agreed.
“It
may be that people who are flood-proof at the moment will be put at
risk,” he said at a Clarence Valley Council (CVC) committee
meeting, according to the SMH, when answering a question about
filling the area.
“A
great deal has happened since the council [first] decided to increase
[the area’s] yield.
“From
the middle of last year, a great awareness of climate change issues
[has surfaced].
“It
is a whole different ball game.”
According
to the SMH, former CVC environment and planning director Rob Donges
“acknowledged [there were] problems there”.
“It
is flood-prone, low-lying land with a high water-table … 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,” he told the SMH.
Come
2008/09, CVC adopted the Yamba Floodplain Risk Management Study and
Plan, which warns that “it is imperative that any additional
development does not exacerbate the existing flood problem”.
The
plan recommended, for example, that a master plan “must address
water-related cumulative issues”, including “possible floodplain
management measures … (if the development is to proceed)
[including]: a) a floodway, b) a comprehensive flood evacuation
strategy, and, c) [various] updated flood-related development
controls.”
Meanwhile,
there appears to be confusion among CVC staff about whether or not
the Yamba Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan is relevant.
In
a response to a detailed enquiry by Valley Watch, following the
public meeting held at Treelands Drive Community Centre on April 29,
2021, staff wrote that the Yamba flood study and plan had “been
superseded by the 2013 Grafton and Lower Clarence Flood Model and
updated Grafton and Lower Clarence FRMP hence, the queries in
relation to this study are no longer relevant”.
However,
the Grafton and Lower Clarence document excludes Yamba and Iluka
stating, “Flood-prone areas of the Lower Clarence River formerly
administered by Maclean shire council from Brushgrove to Palmers
Island including Maclean, and excluding Iluka and Yamba, which are
the subject of separate studies.”
Valley
Watch’s insistence that CVC develop a master plan for West Yamba,
because “there are many unanswered questions” about how
development is or should proceed, was partially addressed in a Notice
of Motion by Cr Stephen Pickering at the April 26 CVC meeting.
“The
community is heartened that the new council is taking an interest in
the concerns of residents regarding development in West Yamba,” Ms
Tyas Tunggal said.
However,
she doubted that part 1 of the CVC resolution, to “support the
creation of a West Yamba Masterplan document”, would be fulfilled
and said part 2, to publish an “information brochure … to educate
the community, does not go far enough and does little to address the
current and growing problems”.
Meanwhile
the mayor, Ian Tiley, told the Independent that a master plan would
“absolutely” be prepared once the brochure is completed.
“Part
1 demonstrated a clear intent to create a West Yamba Master Plan, to
guide sustainable development and infrastructure integrated with the
greater Yamba township,” he said.
BACKGROUND
North Coast Voices
The story of a little town in the Clarence Valley and a growing problem
POSTED BY CLARENCEGIRL
“The
story of a little town in the Clarence Valley and a growing problem”
- Part Two
POSTED BY CLARENCEGIRL
Anonymous
said...
Dear
Clarencegirl, you should send your blog on Yamba to all our non
concerned councillors, and to Clarence Valley Council. Most people in
this area live in denial, that is until the sh... hits the fan, then
they whinge. Apathy seems to reign high in Clarence Valley Shire, and
Yamba, and this council is sitting on it's hands. Your blogs are good
and real. But how do you wake this council up, and make them
represent and think! Cheers Yamba resident for 16 years,
5
APRIL 2021 AT 13:45
West
Yamba subdivision questioned
POSTED
BY CLARRIE RIVERS
How
serious is local government about protecting against climate change
impacts? Not very it seems, if it is Clarence Valley Council
POSTED BY CLARENCE GIRL
The
question of West Yamba
POSTED
BY CLARENCE GIRL
The
folly of allowing developments in flood-prone land
Persons
associated with proposals to develop West Yamba would be well advised
to take special note of a decision of the NSW Land and Environment
Court.
In
an article headed Court agrees climate-change risk rules out housing
plan The Sydney Morning Herald (January 8, 2008) reports:
"Many
may be pleased to know the Land and Environment Court can overturn
not just a council decision but a ministerial one.
The
court recently ruled invalid a concept plan approved by the Minister
for Planning, Frank Sartor, for a controversial residential
subdivision and retirement complex at Sandon Point, on the coast near
Wollongong. The action was brought by a resident, Jill Walker.
The
court agreed the department should have considered the flooding risk
from climate change as it was an aspect of the public interest that
potentially had a bearing on the justice of the decision.
The
decision is a win for residents who have been protesting for years
against the development of the flood-prone 25-hectare site by
Stockland Development and Anglican Retirement Villages.
Deacons
Lawyers said councils would have to ensure risks from climate change
in flood-constrained coastal areas had been addressed by developers
and that they considered such risks in their decisions."
Comment:
The
land at West Yamba is flood-prone. Allowing further development in
the area will require fill being obtained from elsewhere in order to
raise the area above designated ASL requirements. That may solve
current problem associated with the West Yamba site but one doesn't
have to be Einstein to understand that water which would normally
find its way to this naturally occurring flood storage area in times
of heavy rainfall will be diverted elsewhere. And just where is
elsewhere? Think about it. Land that is currently occupied and
considered flood free will not necessarily carry such a tag in the
future.
Yes,
further development at West Yamba will create a new set of winners
(just think 'developers and their associates'), but there'll also be
a crew of losers who'll be up the creek without paddles in times of
high local rainfall and/or flooding that results from waters flowing
downstream from the catchment area.
Clarence
Valley Council should have this matter uppermost in its collective
mind. So too, should Minister Frank Sartor and all others who will be
called upon to give consideration to any hair-brained proposals to
develop West Yamba.
Remember,
the law attaches great significance to the concept of precedence.
Hence, this decision of the Land and Environment Court has
implications for West Yamba.
POSTED
BY CLARRIE RIVERS
