DEAR News Of The Area,

I SUPPORT the recent outrage by our residents at the Council backflip on the Jetty Foreshore development.

However, I am a little perplexed by the seeming surprise at this decision.

Nikki Williams, the newly elected mayor, had made her position on the foreshore development known (NOTA 10 May 2024) well before the recent council elections, although her position on the foreshore development was not addressed in her promotional advertising material, which she used for the election.

She won this election by a comfortable majority.

Those that voted for her must have realised that a vote for Nikki Williams would be a vote for the proposed development of the Jetty Foreshore.

Nevertheless, the poll conducted at the time of the election voted almost 70 percent NO for the Foreshore development.

This would seem to indicate that many who voted for Nikki Williams as Mayor, surprisingly, voted NO for the Foreshore Development.

Councillor George Cecato, at the council meeting, raised the prioritisation of “tourism accommodation over private residential in the Jetty Foreshore”.

However, Nicki Williams, in commenting on the development of the Jetty Foreshore, had earlier expressed her desire to provide “diverse housing options and to address the housing shortage across the spectrum”.

Based on the new council’s record to date this would seem to be the direction that the project will progress, in spite of the Mayor’s earlier statement (NOTA 26 July 2024) that she would “work with the community, for the community and not against it”.

A better solution for “prioritising tourism”, particularly in the short term, would be for the council to address the high cost of airfares to Coffs Harbour (NOTA 1 November 2024), so as to make it a more affordable destination for interstate and overseas tourists to visit here.

Regards,
Pieter DE VISSER,
Korora.