When the NSW Government announced grant funding to build roundabouts on Yamba Road in February 2019 it didn’t include a roundabout that had been in the planning stage since 1973.
At next week’s Clarence Valley Council (CVC) meeting, councillors will decide whether or not to “provide ‘in principle’ support to the location and preliminary design of the Witonga Drive roundabout, including provision for a fourth leg as an access point to the [future] Yamba Bypass”.
The developer of the adjacent Yamba Quays estate, Clarence Property, is responsible for funding the roundabout’s construction; however, planning for the future Yamba bypass adds a layer of complexity to the councillors’ decision.
Councillors will have to consider whether or not to accept the council officer’s recommendation to accept “an offset payment of the Yamba Bypass Contribution, payable for the remaining lots in the [Yamba Quays] subdivision …, in lieu of providing a fourth leg off the roundabout, which will serve as the gateway entry into Yamba”.
The decision is further complicated because an 1,100 square metre section of land on the south side of the proposed roundabout “would be required to be dedicated as public road”.
“There is no development potential for this land other than for road purposes,” staff write in the report to council.
“The proposed roundabout does not appear to encroach into the SP3 Tourist zone component of the land.”
Staff write that the owners of the property [Lot 2 DP592312] “have advised that they are supportive of the sale of land, subject to an agreed value” and that it is “proposed that the cost of the survey for land dedication will be met by the developer of Yamba Quays, as part of the roundabout works”.
“The purchase or offsetting of contributions to obtain land zoned for the Yamba Urban Bypass … is consistent with past practices and other approvals dating back to 1989,” staff advise.
At that time, the former Maclean shire council [MSC] “resolved to offset all open space contributions for [a] future subdivision [on] Carrs Drive, in lieu of land dedication for the Yamba Bypass”.
Subsequently, in May 1993, MSC “approved an offset of open space contributions … in lieu of dedication of the Yamba Bypass land south of Harold Tory Drive”.
In 2014, CVC “allowed the developer” of a 161 lot subdivision off Carrs Drive “to enter into a voluntary planning agreement (VPA) with Council, to offset contributions in lieu of imposed conditions to dedicate or construct strategic infrastructure to service the West Yamba Urban Release Area, [which] included dedication of land zoned for the Urban Bypass”.
The overarching concept, staff write, is the location of the roundabout, because it “is essential in providing orderly development within West Yamba”.
“The roundabout will provide the ‘gateway’ entry point to Yamba and provide a long-term benefit to all future development in this location,” the report to council states.
“It may also help alleviate traffic congestion at Treelands Drive, as the new roundabout can serve as an alternative access to the whole of the Crystal Waters residential area.”
The underlying reasons for staff’s negotiations with the developer (and their subsequent recommendation to councillors) are that “it is considered the developer is providing a public material benefit to the community and [that] an offset of Yamba Urban Bypass Contributions is acceptable”.
Under budgetary and financial considerations, staff write: “An independent valuation would be required to be undertaken to gauge the purchase cost of land required for the roundabout construction.
“Council could pay the owner a financial amount or, depending on negotiations, could offer the owner an offset towards future contributions for development on the site.
“The cost of providing the roundabout to service the Yamba Quays development is approximately $1.536m.
“…The offsetting of the Yamba Bypass contribution for the remainder of the lots to be released under DA1973/92, in lieu of designing a 4-way roundabout to provide a future entry point to the Yamba Bypass, is considered reasonable in this instance.
“Using the current 2020/21 figure of $1,676.00 per lot, this equates to a minimum offset contribution of $150,840.00 ($1,676 x 90 lots) being waived.”
The bypass is currently the subject of a $150,000 feasibility study, which CVC’s general manager, Ashley Lindsay, said would be considered within “our program this year”.