A CONTROVERSIAL motion by Nambucca Valley Council to extend its waste management facility into land earmarked for the Great Koala National Park has been deferred.
At its September 23 ordinary meeting, Nambucca Valley Council voted 5-1 to defer a motion that would have reaffirmed the council’s intention to acquire 23 hectares of the Nambucca State forest for the future extension of its Waste Management Facility.
The original motion proposed proceeding with the land acquisition and rezoning.
However, Acting General Manager David Moloney said some councillors had called for a more detailed report on the subject site and a motion to defer the decision was carried.
Once the report has been completed, the matter will again be considered.
The proposed expansion of the waste facility sparked fierce opposition from local conservationists.
Environmentalists feel betrayed, said Nature Conservation Council of NSW senior forests campaigner and Valla Beach local, Clancy Barnard.
“We just fought very hard to secure the Great Koala National Park,” he said.
“It would be a real betrayal for the Council to then take away a part of it.
“There has got to be a better solution than to take away prime habitat for lots of endangered native species.”
Speaking at the council’s public forum, Forest Ecology Alliance (FEA) representative Judith Kirwood highlighted a 2014 preliminary assessment that identified 35 threatened fauna species on the site, including koalas, Glossy Black Cockatoos, and Yellow Belly Gliders.
A 2020 survey by FEA citizen scientists found more than 100 specimens of the critically endangered scrub turpentine tree (Rhodamnia rubescens), an important food source for birds which has been heavily impacted by land clearing and myrtle rust.
They also documented koalas, koala scat and scratch marks, chewed she-oak cones from Glossy Black Cockatoos, and a number of specimens of the endangered vine slender marsdenia (Marsdenia longiloba).
FEA’s Deanna Markovina said the forest remains a crucial wildlife refuge following decades of logging and residential development in the surrounding area.
“There are very good reasons that this forest is currently included in the proposed Great Koala National Park, and it should not be carved out to accommodate a short-term waste solution,” Ms Markovina said.
“The community has spent years trying to protect this accessible, quiet forest. It is time to stop treating forests as disposable and invest in a sustainable, forward-thinking waste strategy instead.”
A 2014 assessment by Enginuity highlighted that some of the impacts of developing a waste management facility on the site would likely include loss of hollow-bearing trees, deterioration of water quality flowing into Bellwood Swamp, disturbance to nearby fauna habitat by noise and dust, and habitat degradation through introduction of weeds into nearby fauna habitat.
Councillor Jane MacSmith had prepared a foreshadowed motion to pause the acquisition process, lobby Environment Minister Penny Sharpe for funding, and push for a joint Mid North Coast waste strategy.
However, because the deferral amendment passed, her motion was not put to a vote.
She argued that the waste management burden should not fall solely on the Nambucca Valley.
“The Mid North Coast region needs to find a waste solution together, not leave it to the smallest Council to solve within its own backyard,” Cr MacSmith said
“There are other answers that haven’t been explored: a better sited facility, better processing, a real circular economy, and what everyone actually wants – a good old tip shop.”
Cr Jones also strongly opposed the region-wide burden of waste management falling to Nambucca, particularly in such an environmentally significant area.
“I don’t know who came up with the idea for Nambucca Heads to become the Great Big Tip of the Mid North Coast, ” Cr Jones said.
“Do we really want to see every dump truck from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour driving through our valley?
“I believe this site has significant values both culturally and environmentally and it should become part of the National Park.”
Ms Kirwood said that while the NSW Government collects over $800 million in waste levies, only around 17% is shared with local councils.
“Councils should get together and lobby the state government, because this is not fair: It feels like local councils are being bullied,” said Ms Kirwood.
An Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment from 2022 concluded that the forest has high cultural value.
Nambucca Heads Local Aboriginal Lands Council and Wanggaan (Southern) Gumbaynggirr Nation Aboriginal Corporation were contacted for comment.
By Lani GREENHALGH
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