16 December 2020
Public Forum
1 New Business
4.1 Public
Forum Submissions Recieved.......................................................................... 3
4.1. Public Forum
Submissions Recieved
Deputations for the Public Forum of
16 December 2020 were received and circulated to Councillors.
Mayor, Russell Fitzpatrick
Public Forum
Held on Wednesday 16 December 2020 at 12:00 noon
Via Zoom
Present:
Cr Russell Fitzpatrick
Mayor
Cr Liz Seckold, Deputy
Mayor
Cr Tony Allen
Cr Robyn Bain
Cr Jo Dodds
Cr Cathy Griff
Cr Kristy McBain
Cr Mitchell Nadin
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In
Attendance:
General
Manager, Ms Leanne Barnes
Director,
Assets and Operations, Mr Anthony McMahon
Director,
Community, Environment and Planning, Dr Alice Howe
Director,
Business and Governance, Ms Iliada Bolton
Project
Lead – Recovery, Rebuilding and Resilience, Mr Chris Horsburgh
Manager,
Communication and Events, Ms Emily Harrison
Minute
Secretary, Mrs Bec Jones
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Statement of Commencement of Live Streaming
The Mayor made an
announcement about live streaming requirements noting that:
Public Forums are recorded
and live streamed to the Internet for public viewing.
The recording will be
archived and made available on Council’s website
www.begavalley.nsw.gov.au.
Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians of Bega Valley Shire
The
Mayor commenced by acknowledging, on behalf of Bega Valley Shire Council, the
Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters of the Shire, the people of Yuin
nation, to show respect to elders past and present.
Apologies
There were no apologies.
Public Forum Addresses
The following
addresses were heard regarding:
Item 8.1 Outcome of
exhibition of amendment to Bega Valley Development Control Plan 2013 –
Aboriginal Heritage
FOR
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Name
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Representing
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Method
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Comment
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1
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Mr Ross Mackay
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Self
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Audio Visual via Zoom
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I will speak to the following
recommendations made in my written submissions:
- Council consider amending the objectives to make them more reflective of
Council’s specific aspirations and objectives for Aboriginal heritage
in the Bega Valley, including by replication of or reference to clauses 5(1),
6(i), 6(ii) and 6(iv) of the Memorandum of Understanding between Bega, Eden
and Merriman’s Local Aboriginal Lands Councils (7 August 2019).
- Council add an objective of allowing Aboriginal people to be
decision-makers in relation to their culture and heritage.
- Council add an objective that this chapter of the DCP intends to facilitate
the involvement of the Bega Valley Aboriginal community in assessment and
decision-making processes regarding land use proposals which impact on
Aboriginal culture and heritage, consistent with article 11 of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Council should require specific consultation with the relevant local
Aboriginal Land Council, any native title holders or claimants for the area
and any registered Aboriginal owners in the vicinity. Council should consult
with the BEM Liaison Committee as to whether there are any other Aboriginal
people, groups or organisations that should be given specific consultation
rights, either for the whole of the Shire or for specific areas within the
Shire.
- A requirement should be inserted under the heading ‘Assessment by a
qualified person’ that representatives from the parties identified in
the process in recommendation 6 must be engaged to carry out the Due
Diligence assessment.
- A requirement should be inserted under the heading ‘Aboriginal
Cultural Heritage Assessment Report’ that the parties identified in the
process in recommendation 6 must be consulted with in the preparation of any
Aboriginal Heritage Impact Statement or Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
Assessment Report. It should be noted that such consultation may occur in the
conduct of the assessment in accordance with the relevant State policies and
guidelines and, if so, does not need to be separately conducted.
- Provisions should be inserted requiring that the BEM Liaison Committee, or
representatives identified by the BEM Liaison Committee, be provided with a
copy of all assessments provided under this chapter of the DCP to review for
accuracy and adequacy, and report back to Council.
- Council should investigate mechanisms, either in the DCP or the BVLEP, to
create a requirement that Council consult with the Aboriginal community when
deciding whether to approve development which has been assessed, pursuant to
the DCP process, as harming or being likely to harm Aboriginal heritage.
- Council should investigate mechanisms, either in the DCP or the BVLEP, to
create a right for members of the Aboriginal community to request an internal
review of development approvals granted by Council regarding development
which has been assessed, pursuant to the DCP process, as harming or being
likely to harm Aboriginal heritage.
- Figure 5.1b should include all sites registered on AHIMS as areas of high
probability for Aboriginal cultural heritage values.
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Item 8.2 Planning proposal to permit dwellings on deemed
concessional lots
AGAINST
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Name
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Representing
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Method
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Comment
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1
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Mr Garret Barry
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Clients:
· Clyde Thomas
· TeArna Westaway
· David Grugeon
· Robert Pelnens
· John Clarke
· Glen Tucker
(Authority
Received)
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Audio Visual via Zoom
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See speakers notes provided in Attachment
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Item 8.2 Planning proposal to permit dwellings on deemed
concessional lots
AGAINST
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Name
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Representing
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Method
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Comment
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2
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Mr Robert Pelnens
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Self
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Audio Visual via Zoom
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I will leave the technical
side of it to Mr Garret Barry Private Town Planner whom I have given
permission to do so in his address to council.
I had to try to find someone 4 years ago to help me and my options were
limited and Garret turned out to be the man as it was all beyond me when the
council informed me I had no right to build on my land anymore, that they had
no paperwork on my land in their files from when I originally had purchased
the land, etc, etc. That I had been basically paying Rural Residential rates
on land for more than 20 years and that due to a change in NSW Planning laws
in 2013 which I was also unaware of till then that had basically taken away
my rights to build in order to stop others for whatever reason, that NSW
Planning had to tie up a loose end, that I was taken as a sacrificial pig
under the watch of Bega Council Town Planners, taken out to slaughter without
any right to redress for the advantage of others and yet I still pay my Rural
Residential rates to Bega Council without question and without any assistance
from the council on how to rectify this unjust, I'd say even un-Australian
situation.
I want to retire and be a custodian of my land in peace and serenity in a
shire that has been made famous in Australian history by the names of
Kameruka, Tilba Tilba, Eden, Bodalla, Bermagui, yes and our beloved Bega too,
to look after my land and monitor it for fire or damage, to keep out the
vandals who leave their trash that they can't dump or don't want to dump in
the council facilities, thieves, etc. Yes, that's right thieves stealing
timber amongst other things, and have been cutting down my trees. I was
surprised when talking to a planner in general that they had never heard or
were even unaware of something called a Nissen Hut and yet they are dotted
all around NSW and at a sad point in world history provided shelter to
hundreds of thousands of post-war immigrants to NSW for decades. Another
planner was unaware of the famous Chinese Diggings in the Bega area and yet
they are advertised by NSW tourism.
Pretty sad I think it seems to be bottled up in an office and to have lost
that tactile feel and contact with about something that you're supposed to be
Planning for in the area.
Now I find instead that I get differing answers from different bureaucracies
on how to address this situation because they cannot or will not address it
themselves after the issue was of their own making, not mine, and yet have
been aware of it and NOT advertised the fact for a long, long time, years in
fact.
It's pretty sad and unaustralian not to help your mate as all I can see in
the future that I will have to see my life out living as a homeless person
living under the stars in the bush cut off from society because this
Bureaucracy of Bega Council and NSW Planning has seen it unfit to help me, a
person who has helped pay their wages, roads, and infrastructure all these
years. They have made my land worthless.
I am worried that the Bega Shire Planners and Council will go down the road
of least resistance, where there's money to be made I suppose forgetting us
the less fortunate in their dust of progress. I can't see a way forward by
the Planning solution given here to the meeting even remotely like the simple
outline in my letter from 1993 for the land Lot 155-157 Reedy Swamp Road
DP750190.
All I ask ";do Bega Council and its Planners have a definite solution
for my plight or in true British fashion RULE 303 is the answer"
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The Public Forum
session closed at 12:28pm.
The recording of the Public
Forum is available on Council’s website:
http://webcast.begavalley.nsw.gov.au/archive.php
Attachments
1⇩. Speakers
Notes - Ross Mackay - #1
2⇩. Speakers
Notes - Ross Mackay - #2
3⇩. Speakers
Notes - Garrett Barry