WILL CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL EVER LEARN

 Clarence Valley Council’s delayed April Council meeting (held on April 24)  approved two significant development applications on land subject to flooding.  One was on the floodplain close to Maclean and the other in a low-lying area adjacent to Rushforth Road in South Grafton.  Concerns about flooding and other matters raised in submissions by many community members about these developments were disregarded by the majority of Councillors who voted to approve them. These representatives appear to have learnt nothing about the folly of continuing to develop on the floodplain.

The Maclean development - a 24 hour, seven days a week Service Centre – is close to the motorway’s Maclean exit.  As the site is on the floodplain in a flood storage area, the Service Centre will be built on a raised mound using an estimated 66,000 cubic metres of fill.  Shades of the West Yamba disaster! 

The three councillors who opposed the development referred to a range of detrimental effects it would have including noise problems for nearby residents as well as clearing of important vegetation in an area of endangered ecological community (Swamp Open Forest of Broad-leaved Paperbark) and the potential for fuel spills and leakage to enter the adjacent wetlands and the Clarence River.

One of the submissions opposing the development commented on the location of Service Centres and their proximity to urban areas, stating that the criteria for Service Centres is that they be constructed well away from residential areas to mitigate noise and light pollution.  This is necessary because of the volume of traffic – and particularly the numbers of large trucks.  Motorway service centres at Chinderah, Ballina, Halfway Creek and Nambucca Heads are away from urban areas. So how did Maclean come to draw the booby prize?  Why was it not sited further north, and adjacent to the motorway on flood-free land?

In relation to this continued folly of floodplain development, it’s interesting to remember how assorted Federal and State politicians in 2022 proclaimed building on floodplains would have to stop.   While they are ignoring the problem, our council is rushing ahead making the existing problem worse.

-        Leonie Blain

Adapted from an article originally published under the title "When will they ever learn" in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent ,7 May, 2025.

CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL'S LIVING SUSTAINABLY AWARDS

 With all that is happening in the world it seems that “good news stories” are in short supply.  Despite the horrific wars, growing biodiversity loss, rapidly expanding climate change impacts, political chicanery and a range of other depressing issues, there are positive developments with individuals and groups working to improve outcomes in a wide range of areas both locally and further afield.  These contributions - even if just on a small scale - are important for the welfare of those individuals and groups as well as for society in general.  They are also beneficial in showing others what can be achieved by those who have the time, the energy and the commitment.

Clarence Valley Council has been playing an important part locally in recognising individuals and groups who are working to improve outcomes in the area of sustainability.  Its Living Sustainably Awards, introduced in 2011, recognise people and groups in our LGA who are making positive contributions to living sustainably.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2024 awards.

All Clarence residents, not-for-profit community groups, schools or businesses in the Clarence Council area eligible to nominate.  There are five categories - Individual, Community, Business, Education and Our Backyard.

Nomination for the awards can either be through a third party or by self-nomination.  Nomination forms are available on Council’s website or can be collected from Council offices in Grafton or Maclean.

One of the issues through the history of these awards has been the reluctance of people to nominate themselves.   That is unfortunate as self-nominees might feel less reluctance if they recognise that they are doing great work and would see the value of encouraging others to take a similar path.

For more details check Council's website .

Do you know anyone who could be nominated?

There are two important benefits from these awards.  The first is recognition of those who are making significant contributions to sustainable living.  The second, which is also very important, is showing others what can be done and hopefully encouraging them to make a positive contribution in their lives.

-        Leonie Blain

CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCILLORS FAIL TO ADDRESS THE WEST YAMBA DEVELOPMENT PROBLEM

Clarence Valley Council’s meeting in Maclean on April 18 considered a very important Notice of Motion (NOM) lodged by Councillor Greg Clancy on the rezoning of lands on West Yamba Floodplain. 

The NOM aimed to have Council request that the Department of Planning and Environment approve rezoning of lands in the West Yamba Urban Release Area (WYURA) which do not have development approval for a subdivision, from Residential (R1) to Conservation (C2) zoning or a mix of Conservation (C2) and Rural (RU2).

This NOM followed Council’s receipt of legal advice in February that rezoning of land which did not already have development approval for a subdivision was possible without Council being liable for paying compensation.

The West Yamba urban development was approved in 2007 despite considerable opposition because of concern about the advisability of adding tonnes of fill to wetlands to enable residential development and the likely impacts of climate change. 

Early in 2022 Council’s pigeons came home to roost with a vengeance as protracted rain at Yamba led to unprecedented flooding of many houses outside the WYURA and road flooding cutting the town off for days.  So the earlier concerns about the impact of extreme weather resulting from climate change appear to be justified.

Before the opening of the April Council meeting there were two strong deputations supporting the NOM.  The first was from Sue Higginson, Greens member of the Legislative Council and former chief solicitor for the Environmental Defenders Office.  Ms Higginson reiterated the legal advice which Council had received in February and spoke of the importance of acting now.  The second was from Gulmurrad resident Peter Maslin which should have indicated to the councillors that the issue was not just a Yamba issue, but a floodplain issue for the Local Government Area in general.

So the large gallery attending the meeting found it very disappointing that the motion was rejected by five of the seven councillors eligible to vote.  (Mayor Tiley and Cr Johnston as members of the Planning Panel could not participate in the debate or the vote.)  Those voting for it were Councillors Clancy and Smith.  Voting against it were Cr Day, Cr Novak, Cr Pickering, Cr Toms, and Cr Whaites.  Arguments against it included the need to wait for some more reports, the fact that no other councils had ever taken action like this and it was up to the State Government to act on floodplain development. One councillor disputed that the town was cut off for an extended period and another asserted that, despite the legal advice, compensation of millions would probably have to be paid to developers.

What happened in 2022 will certainly occur again and the continuing addition of fill and further urban expansion in the West Yamba area is almost certain to lead to even more extensive flooding of existing dwellings elsewhere in Yamba as well as to road flooding leading to the town’s isolation for days.

What is interesting is that the councillors who voted against the motion are disregarding the very serious concerns of Yamba residents who want effective action and do not want this delayed until more reports are produced.  Also interesting is that some of the councillors voting against the action actually live in Yamba.

The opposition to this unsustainable floodplain development will continue through local groups like Valley Watch and the recently-formed Yamba CAN (Community Action Network) as well as from other Clarence Valley groups such as the Clarence Environment Centre and the Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition.  And the motion that failed may well be brought forward again after the required three month gap.  Will the naysaying five have seen the light by then?  It will be very interesting to see how many new West Yamba Development Applications will be submitted to Council in the meantime.

 

 

Protesters outside Maclean Council Building on April 18 2023

 

 

REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS IN THE CLARENCE VALLEY LGA

For some years Clarence Valley Council, like many other government and business organisations, has been working steadily to reduce its operation’s carbon emissions in response to the challenge of climate change.

In November 2018 Council adopted a target to reduce its carbon emissions (excluding landfill) by 40% by 2030 compared with 2016/17 levels.  It aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050.  At the same meeting it set a target of supplying 50% of its electricity demand from renewable energy by 2030 - with the long-term aim of sourcing all electricity from renewables.

By June this year Council will have 39 facilities with solar systems with a generating capacity of 970 kW as well as four battery storage systems. It has been steadily upgrading lighting to energy saving LEDs along streets, in seven sports fields and in Council buildings.

Its Council fleet of light passenger vehicles is being progressively changed to hybrid vehicles resulting in significant reductions in fuel consumption

Council plans to involve the local community – including business and government organisations - in reducing emissions on a personal and community level.  As a first step it engaged consultants to draw up a draft strategy in consultation with the community.  This Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Draft Strategy recently went on exhibition with council seeking comment from the community about the options presented.

As 82% of our region’s greenhouse emissions are associated with the consumption of electricity as well as fuel for transport, this is one area where significant reductions will need to be made. 

There are, of course, many other areas where changes can be made to reduce emissions on both a personal and community level.  And many in our community, like our Council, are already involved in reducing their emissions either with rooftop solar systems or in other ways.

The next step with the Draft Strategy is a consideration of the community input and production of the final document which will then go to Council for adoption. Following that, Council will be implementing the strategy in cooperation with the community.

            - Leonie Blain

 Published in the "Voices for the Earth" column in The Clarence Valley Independent , May 12, 2021.

COOLING STRATEGIES IN GRAFTON

Increasingly hot summers have seen some councils developing cooling strategies for their urban areas. 

Because of the urban heat island effect, cities become much hotter than surrounding rural areas because of factors such as pollution, building density and extensive hard dark surfaces (buildings and asphalt roads) which absorb heat.  Traffic, industry and electricity usage also contribute to increased urban temperatures which may be from two to ten degrees higher than in surrounding rural areas.

While the urban heat island effect is a major problem in cities, it also affects smaller urban areas.

One of the effective cooling strategies adopted by many councils is increasing street canopy cover with good shade trees. 

Grafton is particularly fortunate with the street trees in its older sections – a result of the foresight of early community leaders.  

 The variable situation in Prince Street,  Grafton's main street.

Well-established trees in some parts of the street provide both good shade and a pleasant outlook. The two photos below show the tree cover on the western side of both the Prince Street - Victoria Street and the  Prince Street-Fitzroy Street intersections.

Chinese elm and very large White Fig.

 

Tulipwood Trees on the Prince St- Fitzroy St Corner

In its newer street plantings in Grafton’s main street  Clarence Valley Council has shown an indifference to any commitment to green-scaping and provision of shade trees to reduce the heat island effect. The palms planted at the pedestrian crossings between Fitzroy and Pound Streets provide negligible shade. 

 

And shady lillypillies were replaced with low shrubs on both sides of the informal crossing near Ray White between Fitzroy and Victoria Streets.

 

 

This is a busy part of town which particularly needs shade because of pedestrian usage and heating resulting from traffic flow.

 

The situation in newer parts of Grafton

In most of the newer areas streets are narrower and so are verges (“nature strips”) which provide no space for reasonably-sized shade trees.  And this opportunity is further restricted by the fact that services such as power and water are generally located underground along these narrow verges.  In addition, block sizes in new developments are generally smaller and the current tendency to build large dwellings on them leaves little garden space for planting shade trees within the block.

Obviously this ‘modern’ problem is not restricted to Grafton or to new developments in the Clarence Valley.

As the climate continues to warm, Councils like Clarence Valley Council will be expected to provide a better solution for the heat island effect than palms and low shrubs as well as implementing changes to developments to ensure that verges or nature strips are wide enough to allow planting of reasonably sized shade trees in residential areas. 

 

 

THREATS TO OUR WATER SECURITY

It's no secret that the world faces a water crisis, recently described as a “challenge for humanity”, and "the result of uncertain supply and growing demand".

 

Since about 2000, Clarence Valley Council has implemented water efficiency measures, which have dramatically reduced consumption in an ongoing effort to balance that supply and demand equation.

 

Last year, Council contracted consultants to undertake a review of its Water Efficiency Strategic Plan, and Implementation Strategy, placing them on public exhibition for comment earlier this year. Those documents thoroughly explored a plethora of measures to further reduce consumption but, oddly, there's no mention of controlling development or population growth, which continue to increase demand for water, despite all the efficiency measures.

 

This year saw the new jail opened, effectively adding a satellite town the size of Maclean to the consumption network, along with approval of several large residential developments.

 

Therefore, if efficiency measures were needed to ensure consumption doesn't exceed supply, what is the supply situation, and is it secure? Those questions were asked in submissions to the new plans which, strangely, made no mention of any threats to that supply.

 

Currently, the entire region from Iluka to Coffs Harbour are wholly dependent on the Nymboida River to provide drinking water.

 

Threats to the quality of that supply include climate change, through increased evaporation and possible longer droughts and mining accidents spilling toxic waste into the system, potentially making it undrinkable.  Other major threats are clear-felling of pine plantations and increased logging intensity causing erosion and increased turbidity as well as the current expansion of intensive horticulture where dam building is already reducing river flows.

 

Ash from wildfires also threatened to poison our water, but not one of these threats are mentioned in Council's plans. Why? It's a state government problem they say, not ours.

 

Now however, with a mining exploration licence application being lodged, to drill in an area between the Nymboida and Little Nymboida Rivers, which together supply all the region's water, that problem may be something Council can no longer afford to ignore.

 

            -John Edwards

This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on October 12 ,  2020.