17 March 2023
Write to State Election candidates this weekend!
Do you have a moment to add your voice? Locals up and down the Coast are calling on State Election candidates to Save Our Coast!
We are asking for appropriate development that avoids threatened species habitat and makes better use of land within our existing towns.
Here are some ideas to get you started. All the email addresses are below. Please help!
Email subject: Save Our Coast- Dalmeny (or your town name)
I am a concerned resident of Dalmeny (insert your town) on the NSW South Coast. We are writing to you to ask for urgent ACTION to protect small coastal communities like ours. Development companies are trying to cash in by building expensive urban sprawl next to tiny villages without services or infrastructure. These developments are NOT for affordable housing.
This is happening up and down the NSW Coast. It is a major issue and we need you to take real steps to prevent:
Changing the character of small coastal towns
Threatening tourism
Worsening urban sprawl
Putting more strain on our local health and childcare services
Placing hundreds more homes into bushfire prone areas
Clearing of threatened species habitat
Clearing of unburnt refuges post bushfires
Clearing of sensitive lake catchments and coastal wetlands
I hope I can count on you to take this issue seriously if elected. We want to see the coastal environment given real protection and affordable housing that makes better use of land and infrastructure within our existing coastal towns.
Regards
Emails:
Min for Environment James Griffin manly@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Shadow Min for the Environment Penny Sharpe penny.sharpe@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Min for Planning Anthony Roberts lanecove@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Shadow Min for Planning Paul Scully wollongong@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Dr Michael Holland, MP, Labor Member for Bega bega@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Cathy Griff, Greens candidate for Bega bega.state@nsw.greens.org.au
Cr Russell Fitzpatrick, Liberal candidate for Bega rfitzpatrick@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
Elizabeth Farrelly Independents,
candidates for Upper House hello@elizabethfarrelly.com.au
Mark Pearson, Animal Justice Party Mark.Pearson@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Mapping Hollows, Collecting Data
Despite legal threats to our group over our Inaturalist Project- Mapping Threatened Habitat, which was covered by ABC Southeast, The Beagle and About Regional, our efforts to record species and hollow bearing trees is going well.
We have run two successful training sessions for volunteers and more are coming up!
So far we have recorded 1072 observations and 552 species!
If you are wondering how to take a bushwalk and see some of these special plants and animals, or BIG hollow bearing trees legally- try the track that runs along the Old Highway, from the Dalmeny Industrial Estate to Duesbury’s Rd.
More Inaturalist Training Sessions
Saturday 1st April, 9am-11am
Water Gardens - 1 Museum Place, Batemans Bay
or
Thursday 6th April, 9am- 11am
Rotary Ringland walk - Ron Gross Lane, Narooma
RSVP to Jen Conolly
Big Koala Picnic
This Sunday the 19th- Have a Picnic, Take a Picture, Spread the Word
Request from Elizabeth Farrelly
Dalmeny Matters has been contacted by the political party running for the NSW Upper House (Legislative Council) Elizabeth Farrelly Independents.
We want to make it clear that we are not supporting particular candidates- we are talking to ALL of them, hoping that they will make a commitment to protecting communities like Dalmeny from inappropriate development. Elizabeth Farrelly is one candidate who has promised to take action on this. She has asked if any of our members would be available to volunteer to help them during pre polling and election day. If you would like to do this we can put you in touch.
What’s Next?
More Markets- Our fundraising and (more importantly) Awareness Raising at Narooma and Moruya Markets will continue soon if you would like to volunteer. We have been given a beautiful, handmade, bush themed quilt to raffle!
Community Meeting- We will organise this in the coming months. We have new information from the documents we extracted from Council via a GIPA. We want to share this with you all and do some planning for when Council finally decides to grace the community with any consultation. Will you come along?
Crunch Time: Tura Beach
On March 13 Save Tura Beach Biodiversity launched a wonderful new film to a full house. Crunch Time explores threats to Tura Beach biodiversity from a 30 year old DA.
Just like the zombie development currently threatening Tuross, there is no requirement for Environmental Impact Assessments or Biodiversity Offsetting because the development approval still stands from before these were required under law.
Candidates for the seat of Bega were at the screening and answered questions. Tony Hastings, an Environmental Consultant, wrote to them following the screening and his thought provoking letter is below:
Hi Michael, Cathy, James and Russell
Last night a short film premiered at the Pictureshow Man, Merimbula, about a 33-year-old development approval that threatens to wipe out a crucial piece of native bushland at Tura Beach.
Afterwards, Michael and Cathy answered questions and I’m informed that Russell declined to attend.
Michael, you claimed that “it’s complex”. It isn’t. An amendment is required to current law that simply says “any proposal to clear native vegetation must have an approval passed not longer than 5 years prior to work commencing”. This would revoke the “zombie” approvals and required them to be re-assessed under current law.
This doesn’t require an inquiry, it just requires your will power and gumption to get the job done.
Going to the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, as you suggested, will only waste time and money, because there is nothing illegal or unlawful about the development. The court cannot change the law, they can only rule whether or not it has been applied correctly. Decisions passed under previous law remain valid until a new law revokes those approvals.
Michael, you provided a lengthy speech explaining how basically you had talked to other people in the Labor party and achieved absolutely nothing, over a 9 month (or longer?) period. I guess there are several conclusions that could be drawn:
- Labor has no idea how to formulate and introduce a bill, or
- as I said last night, Labor has been dithering, and the pretence that it’s too complex to do anything is bullshit. You also said “investors have a right to gain a return”, which makes clear that Labor has been avoiding taking any action because it may offend rich investors.
Investment is always speculation and gamble. Return is not a “right”. Return is not protected by law, it’s not part of our Constitution. Threatened species and their habitats however, are protected by law, and what the community has asked for is that current law be applied to the development at Tura Beach, and other “zombie” developments that have returned to life after being dormant and presumed dead for decades.
Aside from that, properties purchased over 30 years ago have gained massively in value, whether or not they are cleared for housing. The current Biodiversity Offset Scheme offers significant payments to establish stewardship agreements and conservation of sites such as the one at Tura Beach. Property owners will still rake extraordinary profits if current laws are applied.
James, obviously as Minister for Environment and Heritage, it has been your job to resolve this matter, and you appear to have refused to take action. I believe Cate Faehrmann met with you to discuss the issue after she toured the state and heard the concerns of locals from many electorates.
My point to you all, is that it is crunch time; it’s time that the natural environment is considered a higher priority than your mate’s profits. I don’t care how much they’ve donated to your party; doing them favours in return is corruption.
The catastrophic fire of 2019-2020 destroyed 2,448 homes, as well as 284 facilities and more than 5,000 outbuildings in New South Wales alone. There’s no point trying to protect property investments while ignoring global warming and the associated increase in fire frequency and fire severity. The fire also wiped out a significant proportion of threatened species habitats, increasing the ecological value of the few remaining remnants. The fire made clear that environmental issues can no longer be ignored while you look only at business profits.
The days of making policies and laws that only serve your rich mates are also over. In the Bega Valley, and across the state, we are facing a cost of living crisis. The Bega Valley Shire Council claims that have to put up rates 90% in order to pay for essential services such as road maintenance. You’re not fooling anyone Russell. We see the new $35million art gallery, and all the other extravagances that council has funded. You know the tiny Spiral Gallery outshines and outperforms the Regional Gallery, because they meet the needs of local artists and the local community. Throwing millions at a new gallery does not support local arts, it supports the construction company
James, Russell and Michael; you must live in some rich bloke’s world, where you only meet other rich guys and believe that their interests are paramount. Michael referred to a “pub test”, as if this is some way accepted way of assessing the merits and ethics of a decision. Problem is that you guys don’t realise that only rich people can afford to drink at the pub these days. Even the Top Pub at Pambula charges $50 for a steak dinner and $10 a beer now. There’s no more after-work pub dinners for the people I know and work with. Your pub test is stacked with rich blokes and their interests.
I’m calling on you to change your priorities and policies, to put people and the environment ahead of your party donors. We need a local member that will speak and act for our community, and a Minister for the Environment – not a Minister for Mining & Development Approvals.
The way you have presented yourself for the upcoming election is this:
- Michael, current Labor member, has failed to take any action because doing your job is too complex, and you can’t get agreement within your party because the others are as profit & big business obsessed as the Liberals.
- Russell and James, Liberal candidates, you have no interest in the local community or their concerns. We can expect the big business and mining companies to buy your party’s policies.
- Cathy, thankyou, you are the only one to have taken the time to meet the community on site, genuinely hear the community’s concerns, and propose relevant action.
Regards
Tony Hastings
Environmental Consultant
Bega
*Note: Minor corrections: Dr Michael Holland has visited the site previously to meet with reps from Save Tura Beach Biodiversity. There were numerous attempts to contact Russell Fitzpatrick/his office to extend an invitation to participate in the Q&A session for the Crunch Time film premiere, but no response was given, so not technically a "decline" of the invitation.