Tweed Shire Council Councillor and the Tweed Greens lead candidate Katie Milne has joined with Greens NSW MP John Kaye to propose a special taskforce to improve the sustainability of major development in the region.
The pair inspected Cudgen Lake in Cudgen Nature reserve, bounded to the north by the planned Kings Forest development, which will eventually house up to 15,000 people.
Cr Milne said: ‘The hills behind us will be covered with housing when Kings Forest is fully developed. Many concerns have been expressed about its impacts on residents, wildlife and the local ecosystems.’
“With the Tweed facing a 50% increase in population in the next 23 years, it’s important to get the planning right. Otherwise roads will be congested, local waterways polluted and social problems will be on the rise.
“The Tweed should be a centre for sustainable development. It would provide a significant boost for the local economy but we would need the political will and support of governments of all levels,” Cr Milne said.
Dr Kaye said: “Tweed Shire is this nation’s third most significant biodiversity hotspot. Most of the others are in remote locations but in the Tweed, ecosystems are being forced to cope with rapidly growing towns and villages in their midst.
“It makes sense to treat this area with special consideration.
“Major developments are being approved in this unique place without the benefit of best practice planning, adequate wildlife corridors, and modern water conservation practices.
“Cudgen Lake is on the edge of a major disaster. Tens of thousands of fish have died as the lake struggles to withstand the pressure of intense development in its catchment.
“In 1988, acid sulphate soils from development and nutrient overload from agricultural land caused a fish kill of 45,000 fish in Cudgen Lake. There are still recurrent fish kills here every year.
“Without a complete rethink of the standards established for new housing development, ecological catastrophes will become an everyday occurrence.
“Water usage, energy consumption, traffic generation and nutrient run-off into waterways will have to be managed to world’s best practice.
“Developers should not be allowed to cut corners to boost their profits.
“The rethink must go beyond just the elected council. Staff will need to be retrained in 21st century water conservation and re-use, energy efficiency and environmental performance.
“The world has moved on and without the taskforce Katie Milne has proposed, there is a real danger that the Tweed will be left behind,” said Dr Kaye.
Cr Milne said: “Tweed Shire has the highest rate of homelessness in the state and 214 threatened native species, the highest number in Australia. We must change our ways.
“We need full cooperation from all parties to meet our obligations to this community and save the Tweed’s last remaining coastal koalas, estimated at 144, and the coastal lakes, which are at risk of collapse from hundreds of kilos of extra nutrients each year from these new developments,” said Cr Milne.
