Save our Coast campaign

By Yvonne Gardiner

THE NSW Greens are on a mission to reform the state’s coastal planning system. The Greens’ report Concreting the Coast — Fighting Inappropriate Development includes 20 case studies.

Re-elected Upper House MP for the Greens and its planning spokesperson, Cate Faehrmann, presented her case before an audience at Kingscliff on March 15.

“Along the length of the coast, community groups are fighting destructive and inappropriate developments which threaten to overwhelm small coastal villages and wipe out vast tracts of bushland that surrounds them,” Ms Faehrmann said.

“Everywhere you look, our precious coast is disappearing under concrete and houses crammed together like sardines.

“We’re not talking about a couple of small bush blocks here. We’re talking about the destruction of large areas of ecologically sensitive bushland, as well as untold damage to Aboriginal cultural heritage across the state.

“If it’s not stopped, our beautiful NSW coast will be unrecognisable in a matter of just a few years.”

Ms Faehrmann said the state government should no longer allow the building of homes in these risky locations.

“The last four years have shown just how much the climate crisis is affecting our homes, with more extreme and frequent weather events now the new normal,” she said.

“The catastrophic floods that Kingscliff, Tumbulgum and surrounding areas experienced should have been the end for any proposed development on floodplains.

“I’m calling on the state government to step in and rule out any developments on flood-prone land, especially after the O’Kane and Fuller Flood Inquiry recommended just that.

“After visiting the proposed sites last year, it beggars belief how anyone can get approval to fill and develop wetlands.

These wetlands, some of the last remaining in the area, act as sponges and ponds to help mitigate flood impacts on the surrounding community.

“Concreting them over will exacerbate the impact of future floods, to the detriment of the residents of Kingscliff and Tumbulgum.”

Many of these proposed developments in NSW are off the back of ‘zombie DAs’ that were approved decades ago, avoiding any need to undertake the type of environmental or cultural heritage impact scrutiny required today.

“All approvals for zombie DAs must be revoked and reassessed under today’s planning and environmental laws,” Ms Faehrmann said.

In a statement to ABC Illawarra in January this year, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) said