Ed,

At last week’s meeting of the Northern Region Planning Panel (which assesses developments over $30M) the developers’ representative fairly stated that the socio-economic ramifications of approval were important. Was he referring to the damage to existing residences, residents, infrastructure, the Nature Reserve which they have planned to use for excess run-off, the extra flooding that will occur on Yamba Road, the businesses that have no trade because of flooding, the difficulty of getting supplies into Yamba during floods, the extra burden on our local medical services, the extreme difficulty in evacuating in medical emergencies…?

Then there is the cost to ratepayers for damaged roads and infrastructure; any extra income from more rate-able property is pretty much negated by the costs both monetary and stress.

The emotional strain on directly affected residents is not only during flooding; the anticipation and sure knowledge that these events will continue to occur, and will be exacerbated by this development, cannot be underestimated.

Affordable housing? The developer owns the land, so buyers cannot get a mortgage – cash only. Young families? Nope, it is for over 50’s. This is a debacle.

Ronwyn Lopez, Yamba