MEDIA RELEASE: Strategy doesn't deliver on detail
Environmental groups are calling the draft Far North Coast Regional Strategy more rhetoric than substance.
"The new release areas shown on the coast are basically a 'grab-bag' of developer wishes - with enough land earmarked for development to ensure population pressure on the coast remains, TEC Far North Coast Regional Planner Valerie Thompson said. "The draft Strategy will not deliver on its promise of moving new population inland."
"For the government to get real about addressing urban sprawl, lands of high environmental and scenic value need to be excluded from the urban footprint, and this simply has not happened in the draft. The Far North Coast community has been conned."
"Not only have they given developers what they want along the coast, but then they have allowed for ad-hoc development across the hinterland. Worse still, this development is to meet criteria from the Sydney metropolitan area. That is not a Far North Coast Strategy - it's a blueprint for metro-style sprawl."
A coalition of 30 environmental and community groups have released their own vision for the region. In contrast to the government's draft Strategy, the groups' position calls for an end to coastal sprawl, and a Far North Coast flavour to the region's direction.
"Our message is clear - no new lands should be zoned for urban development east of the highway. All vegetation and important habitats must be protected from urban uses, and our significant farmlands protected," Ms Thompson said.
"Development criteria must be specific to this region and provide for village communities rather that urban sprawl. And we need public transport, affordable housing, and protection of our heritage."
ENDS
For more information, contact Valerie
Thompson on (02) 6689 5205 or 0427 509 594
15th March, 2006