This is an edited version of the submission made by the Bangalow Chamber of Commerce re the Bangalow planning proposal.
The public consultation over this matter is very much a show of tokenism given that the Gateway Determination to proceed with the re-zoning has already been made by NSW Planning, and Council is obliged to amend its planning instruments to fall in line with that Determination under a set timetable.
The Chamber’s main concern with the ongoing re-zoning process is the provision of necessary infrastructure within the village to support the new dwellings and their by-products (cars, children, water, sewer) particularly through the collection and expenditure of Section 94 funds.
Over many years Byron Shire Council has had a very poor track record in collecting and expending S94 funds in Bangalow. For at least the last five years the Bangalow Chamber of Commerce has made repeated representations to Council to lay out its plans for the expenditure of available S94 funds in a sensible, methodical and cost effective manner and for there to be transparent consultation with the community on specific projects. This has not occurred despite repeated requests.
Although there are numerous examples of Council’s failure to perform, there is one significant S94 funded project that stands out and has been a significant factor in the negative reaction from some in this community to the currently exhibited re-zoning proposals. That project is the upgrading of the intersection of the Lismore Road with Rifle Range Road and the associated issue of the railway viaduct. This intersection is an area heavily used by school children and would have to be classed as “very high risk” given the volume and speed of traffic on the Lismore Road, and the numerous parental car and school bus movements at certain times of the day.
It is our understanding (taken from publicly available Council documents) that sufficient funds have already been collected, under S94, from the developer(s) of adjacent estates to significantly improve the intersection and deal with the problems associated with the viaduct, particularly pedestrian access by children. No percentage Council contribution is required. It is acknowledged that negotiations with government authorities such as RTA and State Rail may slow things down but surely not 5+ years of delay. This is but one example of Council’s failure to perform in this area.
In a recent briefing of the Chamber Executive regarding the LEP re-zoning proposals, the Director of Planning indicated that the S94 funds generated by the development of the re-zoned land is expected to be in excess of $3 million. Accepting that this will happen over a period of years, it will still require Council to have a detailed mechanism to properly collect and spend these funds for the benefit of the Bangalow community. As indicated above, the Chamber has little faith that Council will rise to this challenge given its dismal performance with the current S94 funds, which it has failed to spend in a timely and responsible manner.
Michael Malloy
Note from Heartbeat: Last issue we stated that we would be examining the issue of existing Section 94 contributions. Unfortunately this article had not been received at the time of going to press. Stephanie King