Public hearings before the committee of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Planning system and the impacts of climate change on the environment and communities will not be conducted on the NSW mid and north coasts from Port Macquarie to the Tweed.

This is despite seven public hearings already being held by the committee since March 2024 in other parts of NSW.

Originally community groups were notified there would be a public hearing held in Yamba at the end of May, one of several public hearings between Port Macquarie and the Tweed.

But now they have been cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Last week Yamba CAN Inc. received notification that the Committee will only conduct site visits in the mid-north and north coast regions and will visit Yamba on May 31.

Yamba CAN Inc. were originally told the Committee were to conduct hearings and 12 site visits in the NSW mid-north and north coast region, however the days for undertaking site visits has been limited to 2 days and it appears only 5 site visits will be conducted in the mid-north and north coast area.

It is understood the Committee will now be undertaking site visits at South West Rocks, Yamba, Maclean, Evans Head, and Brunswick Heads.

Yamba CAN Inc members say they are very disappointed and would like to know why the mid-north and north coast are not provided the same opportunity as has occurred in Sydney and on the south coast.

The Northern Rivers area, and particularly the Clarence Valley has the highest flood risk hazard of all, as outlined in the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan 2024 – 2026. Surely this triggers the necessity for the committee to provide hearings in the mid-north and north coast regions of NSW, Yamba CAN Inc members said.

Previously, the Minister for Planning and Open Spaces, Paul Scully headed the decision to “scrap” rezoning plans for suburbs in western Sydney, including Marsden Park North and parts of West Schofields, which were due to be developed with more than 10,000 homes.

Plans for the new Riverstone Town Centre will also no longer go ahead.

Yamba CAN Inc. members want to know if this will happen with local developments “when do residents lives and livelihoods matter on the north coast of NSW?”

“Will Council and the State Government continue to allow developments that detrimentally impact existing residents with the ongoing fill of the floodplain, to the extent of potentially risking the safe and efficient evacuation of people, risking lives in the process,” they asked.

“Will existing homes and the homes in the already approved developments be able to obtain house insurance?”

The CV Independent contacted committee chair, Sue Higginson asking for her reaction about the North Coast public hearings of the committee being scrapped, what it means for residents and prospective developments in the lower Clarence Valley, and what the “unforeseen circumstances” were that resulted in the hearings being cancelled.

“The fact that Mid and North Coast communities will not have an opportunity to have hearings in their towns is not equitable,” Ms Higginson said.

“Our ideal outcome would have allowed for site visits and hearings across 4 days, but we have been limited to covering every community north of Port Macquarie in just 2 days.”

Ms Higginson confirmed site visits locally by the committee.

“Submissions made by the Clarence Valley community about their experiences and particular developments will still be considered, as well as evidence from the site visits in both Yamba and Maclean,” she said.

“Groups that had made submissions about developments in the Clarence and other places on the North Coast have been invited to take the committee to see the proposed developments in-person, it is ultimately up to those groups to decide who they want to include in the site visits, that extends to the general community.”

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 22 May 2024.