Ed,

Land release for housing development is of critical importance given the current crisis of homelessness and housing affordability, and I strongly believe that the Clarence Valley is well positioned to grow our supply of residential land and welcome more residents.

After all, who could refuse an invitation to move to our beautiful and relatively affordable local area to enjoy all that it offers? As well as contributing to the solution of what is a national housing crisis, such developments will bring economic uplift and prosperity to our humble region, which will benefit all of us.

However, it concerns me that the approval of land for residential development in West Yamba in recent years has created a future problem for a much larger section of Yamba in that stormwater runoff and floodplain management may not have been properly considered. Evidence of this emerging problem was presented at a recent community meeting in Yamba which also outlined the decision-making processes and considerations of successive Clarence Valley Councils since about 2008.

We have recently been reminded of the devastating impacts on lives and economies wrought by major flood events in our region. Given that we have significant floodplain landmass in our local government area, a more rigorous approach to planning is needed to ensure we are not creating unmanageable future liabilities by building on floodplains.

Leon Ankersmit, Grafton