Rodney Stevens

When Yamba resident Bob Kershaw heard ‘Stop the Fill’ signs had been produced, he quickly acquired one of the signs to display outside his Golding Street property, where he can see thousands of tonnes of fill from his front door.

The corflute signs stating, “Stop The Fill” and “Don’t Drown Our Town” were produced by the Yamba Stop The Fill group as a way for concerned residents to show their opposition to loads of earth being dumped on floodplains as fill for developments.

Mr Kershaw, who has lived in Golding Street for 13 years said for about six months, trucks dumped thousands of tonnes of fill on land off Carrs Drive at West Yamba designated for the $32 million, 295 residential lot Kahuna No 1 development. (see below)

“It’s been a slow journey, there was always a murmur about this happening but the reality of it was when those trucks started coming 10 hours a day,” he said.

“It all started with the start of the winter westerlies two years ago and for 10 hours a day the winds were blowing this way and it sounded like the trucks were in my front yard.

“In a time where councils have declared a climate emergency, to have that many truck movements creating something that wasn’t originally there, which at the same time causes collateral damage to all these houses that are around, is wrong.”

Like many residents who have spoken to The Independent about Yamba developments, Mr Kershaw said he wasn’t advised by council the fill would be trucked in from the highway construction.

Despite noticing stormwater moving from south to north up Golding Street for the first time ever since the fill was dumped, three hours after high tide in this year’s floods, Mr Kershaw said he believed the fill had minimal impact on Golding Street flooding.

“I think Yamba Road residents were definitely affected by the fill,” he said.

“Some people say the fill has already affected Golding Street, but I don’t think so.”

What concerns Mr Kershaw and his neighbours most, is the fact their properties are classified as being on a floodway according to the West Yamba Urban Release Area WYURA Development Control Plan, and they had no say in the process.

Mr Kershaw said the floodway designation, which came about when land at the northern end of Carrs Drive was rezoned residential, effectively prevents any development on their Golding Street properties.

“This came out 11 years ago and I got sent a copy because I am directly impacted,” he said.

“In this copy my land has gone from rural zoning to a greyed in area referred to on the plan as no fill drainage zone.

“All without a single word of notification from any authority, never a word spoken or never a word corresponded, just a plan in the mail and there’s your new zoning.

“You’re not allowed to fill that land, you’re not allowed to do anything Jeremy my neighbour has since found from council…he’s not allowed to raise his house because we are in this floodway.

“I was advised it’s pretty much a waste of time putting in a development application for these properties due to their zoning.”

Mr Kershaw said he and many others are worried that Yamba residents will continue to be ‘left in the dark’ about developments that could impact their properties until it’s almost too late.

The “Stop The Fill” “Don’t Drown Our Town” signs are available for purchase for $10 by contacting the Stop The Fill Yamba Facebook group.

Kahuna No 1 DA withdrawn

The controversial Kahuna No 1 Development Application DA, which was refused by Clarence Valley Council, has been withdrawn by the developer less than a week before the Northern Regional Planning Panel NRPP was set to meet to determine its fate.

In last week’s Independent, residents were advised they could have their say on the 295 lot Miles St DA, before the NRPP on September 21, but this can no longer happen as the meeting has been cancelled.

“The meeting has been cancelled because the applicant has withdrawn the development application,” the NRPP advised on the morning of September 15.

This is not the first time the Kahuna No 1 DA has been withdrawn, so residents are keeping a watchful eye on any progress.