Not only should we consider the traffic and population issues concerning conventional development of West Byron, we should remember that there are stormwater/floodwater development and land and marine wildlife issues, which have been overlooked since 2007. Greater residential development of the Ewingsdale area is already underway. The West Byron lands themselves are more suited for alternative developments according to a paper submitted to the SCU’s National Acid Sulphate Soil Conference in 2012.
This paper traces an evolution that has occurred over the past 20 years or so in relation to strategies used to rehabilitate wetlands and to address the impacts of acid sulfate and related pollution. During that period, there has been increasing recognition of the limitations imposed on rehabilitation projects by existing agricultural land uses.
Full restoration often requires significant hydrological change, to a degree that involves land use change, and in order to achieve that, changes in land tenure.
The [requirements for success] include:
1. the need to acquire the entire back-swamp or hydrologic unit;
2. guaranteed funding over a realistic time-frame and linked to regional strategic assessment;
3. proximity to an existing reserve;
4. that the project be undertaken as core business by a public authority with dedicated staff, including a project manager; a cooperative and engaged local authority, generally the local council;
5. a simplified approvals process; and
6. a compelling reason to change the existing management of the project area, such as international legal obligations or concerns in relation to human health.
The final, and perhaps the most fundamental ingredient required for rehabilitation projects is dedicated and capable people – both within the organisations involved, and in the broader community – to bring the concepts to fruition, and without which, nothing would ever happen.
Mary Gardner, Byron Bay