Council seeks to address C zone concerns

By Jonathon Howard

THE DRAFT proposal of conservation zones (C zones) in the Tweed Shire has prompted a hot debate among locals this month, and Tweed Shire Council is eager to clarify several points it says are “misleading landholders”.

Council has stressed it is not intending to rush through the draft C zones policy and despite the window for public comment closing on Monday,

May 29, Council has sought to reassure landholders they will be given more opportunities to have their say.

In updating the community, Council’s Planning Director Vince Connell said Council officers are currently working on the formal proposal to amend the Local Environmental Plan zone mapping and introduce conservation zones across Stage 1 (Tweed Coast), which is expected to take another 12 months.

Once Stage 1 is complete, work will begin on creating draft maps for Stage 2, for areas west of the Pacific Motorway.

Once a set of draft maps has been produced, Council will reach out to all affected landowners to explain the process and seek their feedback. This is expected to take place in 2025.

In the meantime, Mr Connell has provided The Weekly with a statement to bring clarity to the subject and address what he says has been incorrect information within the community.

“It is important to clarify and correct some of the information published by the NSW Farmers Far

North Coast Branch in their most recent column in the Tweed Valley Weekly (May 11) regarding the introduction of conservation zones (C zones) in the Tweed Shire,” he said.

“We are aware the column has caused alarm among some farmers and other rural landowners, and we would like to allay these concerns.

“We have since met with the Chairman Craig Huf and members of the local NSW Farmers branch to better understand their concerns and have relayed these back to our Councillors who are weighing up how best to manage the rest of the proposed exhibition period — which was set to close on May 29.

“C zones have been part of the NSW planning system since 2006, and since then, councils across the state have been introducing them.

“Tweed is one of the last local government areas in the state to do so.

“The review of zoning for environmental protection has been in planning at Tweed Shire Council for more than a decade, and this long period of investigation underpins our current proposed zoning approach.

“The proposed new zones aim to tidy up our planning, to clarify and make things simpler for all landowners across the shire moving forward.”

Mr Connell said the column portrayed C zones in a “totally negative light”, which he says is not the case.

“But the reality is the full process is a balancing act of ensuring we are protecting our sensitive environmental lands while providing a clear path forward for rural landowners to ensure rural land management is viable, sustainable and responsible,” he said.

“We do have some flexibility to tailor C zones to local conditions, however for the most part, a directive of the NSW Government controls where and how we can apply a C zone, and what type of development is permitted in these zones.

“Land use zones under the Tweed Local Environmental Plan (LEP) broadly regulate the types of development permitted and prohibited in different parts of the shire.

“Land use zoning does not regulate a landowner’s day-to-day activities or how they manage their property.

“A C zone over rural land does not change how landowners take care of their property, keep it safe, or continue using it as it is being used at the present time.

“C zones will regulate the types of new development that can be undertaken in the future and may impact on the ability to expand farming activities into parts of the land that are currently not farmed and are environmentally significant.

“These areas warrant an additional level of consideration and protection.

“For land to meet the criteria for a C zone it must contain native vegetation and not already be used for intensive agricultural purposes. Existing farmland will not be affected.”

Mr Connell said the C3 zone is being used predominately in rural areas.

“Extensive agriculture (ie grazing) is permitted without consent (doesn’t need a DA) in the C3 zone,” he said.

“A C2 zone would not be placed over land already being used for horticulture because the land would not meet the ecological criteria for a C zone.

“Running cattle on a neighbour’s property might need a DA if it is in the C2 zone, but only if there hasn’t been cattle on there for long enough to say the land is not grazed.

“If the area has just been spelled for a year or two, this is an existing use and may continue.”

Mr Connell sought to assure Tweed farmers that a C zone on their property will in no way effect whether they can have working dogs as part of their current lawful farming activities on their property.

“The keeping of working dogs is not a type of development, so a C zone itself will not and cannot result in a ban on dogs,” he said.

“Yes, in certain circumstances we do place dog and cat controls on areas in proximity to sensitive environment and habitats, such as at Koala Beach in Pottsville and some areas of Casuarina.

“There have also been instances where a condition of consent for a subdivision of rural land prohibited dogs on the newly created properties due to their proximity to significant koala habitat. The prohibition was part of an overall environmental protection plan for the protection of the Tweed Coast koala population.”

Mr Connell said when making comparisons with neighbouring shires, it is important to recognise that every local government area is unique and there are many other issues affecting the decisions of Kyogle and Lismore councils.

“Tweed has a very different environment and community priorities than these areas,” he said.

“Council is developing and applying its C zones in response to its own environmental and development scenarios.

“The current planning proposal on exhibition does not make any changes to the zone mapping or apply C zones to any land.

“It proposes to introduce the legal planning controls for the C zones into the Tweed LEP 2014 to address a need by some landholders and development proponents who wish to use C zones to suitably protect relevant areas on their land.

“The planning controls will ultimately apply to any land that receives a C zone under Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the mapping review process.

“We welcome any feedback from landowners and encourage any rural property owners concerned about this to talk to our C zones project staff directly by calling our Contact Centre on (02) 6670 2400.”