Nambucca Valley’s rubbish future is at risk if councillors keep stalling, the local MP warns, and the clock is ticking.
Member for Oxley Michael Kemp has called on Nambucca Valley Council to approve an expansion of the Valley’s waste management facility before the Great Koala National Park begins.
The expansion would buy 23 hectares to secure the Valley’s waste management future. Mr Kemp said if councillors waited any longer, the future of waste management in Nambucca would be at the whim of whatever State government Minister was in power.
“After six years of planning, assessment and professional advice by Council staff on the Valley’s long-term waste needs, it’s time to get a move on,” Mr Kemp said.
“To defer this decision after six years of large-scale assessments and professional advice, all paid for by ratepayers, shows just how disconnected these councillors have become from reality.”
Mr Kemp said the proposal had been considered by Council numerous times and was previously supported by many councillors. He said the risk was heightened by legislation to gazette the park being introduced in NSW Parliament.
“Not securing this land before the park is gazetted risks the ability of Nambucca Valley Council to manage its own waste in the future,” Mr Kemp said.
“I have given Council a month to work through this issue, but now it’s nearly too late.”
Councillors deferred the decision at the Wednesday, 23 September meeting in a 5-1 vote. The motion would have reaffirmed the plan to acquire 23 hectares of the Nambucca State forest for the future extension of the facility, including rezoning.
Acting General Manager David Moloney said some councillors had called for a more detailed report on the site. Once the report is done, the matter will be considered again.
The site is land earmarked for the park, and the plan has sparked fierce opposition from conservationists.
Nature Conservation Council of NSW senior forests campaigner and Valla Beach local Clancy Barnard said environmentalists felt betrayed after the long fight to secure the park. He said taking part of it away would be a real betrayal, and that a better solution had to be found than losing prime habitat for endangered native species.
Forest Ecology Alliance representative Judith Kirwood told the council’s public forum that a 2014 preliminary assessment identified 35 threatened fauna species on the site, including koalas, Glossy Black Cockatoos, and Yellow Belly Gliders. A 2020 survey by Alliance citizen scientists found more than 100 specimens of the critically endangered scrub turpentine tree.
The Alliance’s Deanna Markovina said the forest remained a crucial wildlife refuge after decades of logging and residential development, and should not be carved out for a short-term waste solution.
A 2022 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment 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.
Councillor Jane MacSmith had prepared a foreshadowed motion to pause the acquisition, lobby Environment Minister Penny Sharpe for funding, and push for a joint Mid North Coast waste strategy. Because the deferral passed, it was not put to a vote.
“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.
Cr David Jones also opposed the region-wide waste burden landing on Nambucca.
“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.”
Mr Kemp said the waste strategy was developed by Council to make sure the Valley can manage its waste for the next 80 years.
“There is an inherent risk in doing nothing,” Mr Kemp said.
He also pointed to the cost of living.
“With families already feeling the pressure of the cost of living, councillors need to plan ahead and make responsible decisions now, rather than risk leaving future ratepayers with a rate increase.”
“The proposed expansion of the waste facility is cost-effective, appropriate and timely, that is the type of proposal ratepayers ask of our councils.”
“These councillors need to get out of the political theatre and focus on the basics: rates, roads and rubbish.”
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