Rodney Stevens

A decision on whether Clarence Valley council will prepare a planning proposal to rezone land not subject to development approvals in West Yamba has been deferred for a month.

Following advice tabled in the February council meeting that Clarence Valley Council (CVC) wouldn’t be liable for compensation if land that is not approved for development on the West Yamba floodplain is rezoned from residential to rural and conservation status, Cr Greg Clancy lodged a two-part motion before the March council meeting.

Cr Clancy’s proposed motion was that council:

1. Note the legal advice tabled at the February Ordinary Council Meeting that compensation would not be payable in the event that the Department of Planning and Environment, on the recommendation of Council, was to approve a rezoning of lands in the West Yamba Urban Release Area (WYURA) from residential R1 to C2 or a mix of C2 and RU2 depending on the results of the planning study;
2. Prepare a planning proposal for submission to the Department of Planning and Environment requesting that the vacant land, which do not have development approval for subdivision, in the West Yamba Urban Release Area (WYURA) be rezoned from Residential (R1) to Conservation (C2) zoning or a mix of Conservation (C2) and Rural (RU2) based on the impacts of further development on the environment and the risk to human life and property from future flooding.

In his summary of the proposed motion, Cr Clancy said the amount of fill that has been transported to West Yamba has caused concern among a number of Yamba residents.

“The large amount of fill would appear to be exacerbating localized flooding around the Carrs Drive roundabout and the area surrounding it,” Cr Clancy said.

“There is also concern that the large amount of fill is affecting, and will increasingly affect, the drainage of the area, adversely affecting low lying residences and the environment.”

A workshop on the issue will be held before the April CVC meeting, so at the March meeting Cr Greg Clancy moved that a decision on the motion be deferred until the ordinary council meeting on April 25.

“I’d like to move that this item be deferred till the April ordinary meeting to allow the workshop that was approved last month to be carried out,” he said.

Prior to this motion, a leave of absence was granted unanimously for Cr Allison Whaites.

The motion was seconded by Cr Bill Day and carried unanimously.