CITY of Coffs Harbour (CoCH) councillors carried a motion, five for and four against, to proceed to investigate acquiring land at Jetty Foreshores by commencing the process of compulsory acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act (Just Terms Compensation Act) 1991, to keep the land in public ownership.

The motion was put forward by Cr Tony Judge and Cr Sally Townley at the council meeting on Thursday 13 July.

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The motion noted the election commitment by the NSW Government to work with CoCH council to retain Jetty Foreshore land in public ownership.

The land in question is Lot 11 DP 843870 and Lot 10 DP 1284099.

“The motion that Councillor Townley and I raised was aimed at making a start on transferring the land from state government agencies to council,” Cr Judge told News Of The Area.

Council manages the surrounding parkland.

“Transfer will consolidate management of the Jetty Foreshores parklands in one place and ensure we take a holistic approach to future development of recreational space.

“We thought it was important to get the process started and get Coffs Harbour on the front foot.

“It will show how serious we are about the Jetty Foreshores parklands and speed up discussions on next steps,” he said.

Cr Judge said the process can allow for a collaborative approach despite the wording ‘compulsory acquisition by council’.

“While those words may make it sound like a one-sided process, the reality is that it is a method that can be used collaboratively by different arms of government when assets such as land need to be transferred between them.

“The process should be about consultation and negotiation, with both the state government and council working towards a great result for the Coffs Harbour community.”

Cr Judge said the motion was to get “a bit of early attention” when the government is stretched across a lot of projects on public land across the state.

Councillor Judge, who was also the Labor candidate at the recent state election, said the previous government intended to sell the land.

“However, a key election commitment of the incoming Labor government was to work with council to keep the Jetty Foreshores in public hands.

“I believe that commitment was a huge win for Coffs Harbour’s future.”

Cr Judge said Coffs Harbour needed to keep as much recreational space as possible and coastal open space was particularly important, he said.

Speaking personally, Councillor Judge said he would like to see an innovative approach to dealing with the land transfer.

“I think it would be a win/win if we could organise a land swap with the state government, rather than purchasing the land at the Jetty from them.

“Ideally, I would love to see us transfer some surplus land in exchange for the land at the Jetty Foreshores, with the aim of giving the state government the opportunity to develop social and affordable housing.

“That would keep the Jetty Foreshores for the whole community, but also start to address the critical lack of affordable housing in our region.

“Again, this is a tool to get those discussions started.”

It was noted that CoCH is yet to receive a response from minister Steve Kamper, about revised plans for developing public space at the Jetty Foreshores.

Steve Kamper is minister for Small Business, Minister for Lands and Property, Minister for Multiculturalism and Minister for Sport.

Councillor Judge stressed he was speaking as an individual councillor, not on behalf of the council.

By Andrea FERRARI