27th May 2009
Press Release, Draft Local Environment Plan
The recently released Eurobodalla Draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) was the subject of a meeting with the Council and Coastwatchers will be forwarding a comprehensive submission broadly supporting the new planning rules.
President Mark Fleming said, “For the first time in the history of the shire’s planning, all the relevant maps and supporting information can be found in the one document that clearly sets out the future of development in the Shire”.
“In particular, the sensitive coastal lands and flood prone areas are clearly identified and we congratulate the Council for incorporating an 80 metre buffer zone around the areas waterways”.
“Also the vegetation and endangered ecological communities are mapped and included in the Draft LEP. This means that anyone thinking of purchasing land in the future can have a clear understanding of the constraints to development before purchase”.
He continued, “We do have some issues that we will address in our submission. In particular, if the plan is approved it will be possible to build ‘electricity generation works’ on all rural land types. This means that anywhere in the Shire your next door neighbour could build a large nuclear or Bio-mass power generator. We will be calling for the Council to expressly define nuclear and bio-mass power plants in these zones as a prohibited use in the LEP.”
[For South Eurobodalla]
“We have concerns about some of the Urban Expansion zones, particularly areas like Mystery Bay, which would see the doubling of the village and is miles from centralised services at Narooma. On the other hand we are supporting the logical expansion of Narooma to the south. Both the Mystery Bay and Dalmeny sites may have threatened species present that would constrain development”.
[For North Eurobodalla]
“We have concerns about some of the Urban Expansion zones, particularly areas like Long Beach, which would add unacceptable levels of traffic to the Princes Highway/Long Beach intersection and more delay on the Clyde River Bridge. On the other hand we are supporting the logical expansion of Moruya to the south. Coastwatchers believes that there could be some additions to the vegetation corridors to the East of Deep Creek Dam, west of Bodalla and in the Coila Lake area”.