“Given the retention of the heritage listing and there being no changes proposed to the applicable Plans of Management, the Kyla Park Grazing Lands will be retained in their current form and there will be no development on the land that is inconsistent with the heritage listing or the Plan of Management as a result of this planning proposal.” Eurobodalla Council statement A strong turnout today witnessed Councillors Mayne, Constable and McGinlay take receipt of a passionate petition raised by the Tuross Head community that once again reminds Council that ANY change at all to the Kyla Grazing Lots by way of zoning, classification or categorisation will see an immediate response from the Tuross Head community. On the Community Voice Social media page Councillor Mayne wrote: https://www.facebook.com/communityvoiceeurobodalla Motion: Council defer voting on the implementation of the Draft Rural Lands Strategy so that Councillors and Council staff meet in person with the relevant NSW Government Departments that are objecting to the Strategy to try and satisfy their objections. In fact, Dept. of Fisheries have even asked for such a meeting.Council staff, who are professional, diligent and committed are saying one thing. State Gov staff, who are professional, diligent and committed are saying another thing. So I am seeking a slight delay to bring the groups together for a chat and hopefully to put to bed any concerns. I hope that this transparency will help build trust in the process. The two photos below are from the petition handover from the very engaged Tuross Head Progress Association seeking a firm agreement from Council that there will be no change to the Kyla grazing lands. (this is my personal reflection) Anthony
Photos below courtesy of Max Castle:
In a Council media release issued today the Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes has hit back at media and social media reports accusing the Council of removing the shire’s environmental protections through its Rural Lands Strategy.
“Statements in the media and some sections of the community accusing Council of removing environmental protection from 38,000 hectares of the south coast and threatening the Clyde River oyster industry are simply untrue.
“I want to correct the misinformation out there with the following facts.
“The 38,000 hectares of land subject to Council’s Rural Lands Strategy is primarily agricultural land, a large proportion of which is already cleared. The environmental protection controls of the NSW Government will continue to apply to the land.
“The strategy recommends that the integrity of this productive agricultural land be maintained by providing planning rules that enable continued rural land use under modern farming practices.
“The strategy essentially recommends the preservation of larger and good quality grazing and dairy lands as well as water catchment areas by allowing little or no subdivision in these areas.
“It allows for a small number of rural lots in areas that are already fragmented, basically recognising the current pattern of subdivision.
“And it takes the natural environment into consideration, for instance, protecting areas with high value vegetation and soils, while also providing opportunities for small scale agriculture, important for our food economy and for tourism,” Clr Innes said.
“I also want to be clear that oyster farming on the Clyde River is not at risk. In the entire Clyde River catchment, the strategy allows for a maximum of nine additional lots to be created by subdivision and potential for up to 20 additional dwellings. The majority of these are located more than four kilometres from the Clyde River. Any new development would require consent and be assessed against NSW Government legislation and conditions would be applied to prevent impacts to water quality.”
Council’s Director of Planning and Sustainability Lindsay Usher echoed the Mayor, saying claims that the planning proposal will result in significant and widespread subdivision of rural land and clearing of bushland are not correct.
“There is no greater potential for clearing for agricultural purposes as a result of the planning proposal than exists now under the 1987 LEP, and land clearing will continue to be controlled by the NSW Government.
Mr Usher also states that concerns raised by NSW government agencies about elements of the strategy have been addressed in the planning proposal.
“Local representatives of the Office of Environment and Heritage, Rural Fire Service and Local Lands Services continue to raise the same specific issues they raised during the preparation of the RLS when they were part of the steering committee. They’re not opposed to the strategy as such, but to certain elements of it that relate to their agencies. We considered their concerns at that time and we’ve reviewed them again and we continue to disagree with the issues they raise. These areas of disagreement are addressed in the planning proposal.”
“It’s important to remember that the NSW Minister for Planning determined that the proposed changes to the controls in Eurobodalla were sufficient to meet the requirements of the NSW planning legislation and the planning proposal could be placed on public exhibition.
“Right across Eurobodalla, the planning proposal allows for a total of 122 new lots and 255 new dwellings. This scale of potential development across Eurobodalla is modest, and any development would require development consent from Council and be assessed against NSW biodiversity, land clearing and bushfire protection legislation.
“Any clearing for agricultural purposes will continue to be assessed by the NSW Government’s Local Land Services. There is no change to the current system of approvals for land clearing in this regard.”
The planning proposal was on public exhibition throughout May and June and 538 submissions were received. A report about the assessment of submissions will go to the Ordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday, 29 August 2018. If approved by Council, the proposal will go back to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to make the new LEP consistent with the changes detailed in the planning proposal.
