THE TWEED SHIRE Volume 1 #13 Thursday, November 20, 2008 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 Fax: (02) 6672 4933 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
Pages 10-13
LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Mayor backs Hastings Pt community Ken Sapwell
Tweed Mayor Joan van Lieshout was hailed the saviour of Hastings Point after her crucial vote at Tuesday’s council meeting secured new planning controls for the village. Cheers and applause erupted from a packed public gallery when she used her vote to break a three-all deadlock to bring in a development control plan (DCP) for the town south of Cudgera Creek and initiate a DCP for the northern part of the town. The new DCPs, along with a locality plan, will limit densities and reduce building heights from three storeys to two in a move to protect the village’s unique character and reduce pollution of the creek. More than 100 people waving placards crowded into the gallery and spilled out into the foyer to watch what was described as an historic decision which brings the shire’s smallest coastal village in line with Fingal and Pottsville. While 80-odd residents were wildly jubilant some 30 developers, landowners and tradesmen were visibly upset by the result which effectively blocks several multi-unit developments which were in the pipeline. In the first real test of her leadership, Cr van Lieshout, who is married to a property millionaire, surprised many when she came out in support of the community which had been fighting since 1996 for tighter controls to stop overdevelopment and avert what it sees as an ecological disaster. The mayor, who snubbed an invitation to a mayoral conference in Canberra in order to vote on the future of the village, sided with community councillors Barry Longland, Dot Holdom and Katie Milne to bring in the longoverdue controls. She also supported the same councillors in opposing a three-storey residential unit building on the Coast Road which council planners said should not be approved because of a range of environmental reasons. Residents and developers argued their cases before councillors voted but it was apparent that Cr van Lieshout, who was subject to heavy lobbying from both sides in recent weeks, had already made up her mind.
A mixed bag of signs at Tuesday’s council meeting to decide the fate of Hastings Point. Photo Luis Feliu
In a prepared statement afterwards, she indicated she had been persuaded to support the future protection of the village ‘as a result of the dedicated and passionate pleas from the representatives of the community’. She singled out local lawyer John O’Reilly, whose legal challenges have already stopped a seven-unit building from going ahead and threaten to stop the controversial Point development. She also commended local environmental campaigner Richard Gow. ‘They have relentlessly continued to inform authorities of the implications and sensitivity of the area for no personal gain,’ she said. ‘It is noted that Hastings Point is a unique part of the northern NSW coastline and requires specific regulations to maintain the desired community environment.
‘It is to be remembered that the council represents the whole community and that it is our responsibility to ensure that vital and relevant information is available to all parties at all times. ‘This of course will mean that not all decisions will favour all parties.’ In an apparent reference to claims from some speakers that the new controls will devalue their land, Cr van Lieshout said places like Byron Bay increased in value simply because they were not subject to overdevelopment. Conservative councillors Kevin Skinner, Phil Youngblutt and Warren Polgalse initially moved to bring in the new controls but insisted that the door remained open for development approvals waiting in the wings, but were defeated 4-3. The same councillors then unsuccessfully
tried to find a way to approve the Coast Road block of units by developer PDK but were again rebuffed by the mayor’s deciding vote. ‘It’s a fantastic result,’ said Mr O’Reilly, a leading figure in the residents’ long and until now frustrated campaign to retain the existing medium density zoning but with tighter controls to stop large multi-unit blocks of flats. Residents had the support of council planners, the state government and urban design consultants who found that existing controls did not go far enough to protect the village’s unique character. The residents’ campaign has involved ongoing legal battles, a nude YouTube video protest and accusations referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. ■ See Editorial, page 8
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