Letter to the Editor: Pigs seen flying at the Jetty Opinion Property/Sports/Opinion - popup ad by News Of The Area - Modern Media - March 14, 2024 DEAR News Of The Area, MINISTER Jackson says that she will ensure 30 percent of the proposed development at the Jetty will be affordable housing. History says this won’t happen. The time honoured form is for the glossy brochures and politicians’ promises to precede a zoning change of the land in question which enormously enhances its value. The land is then sold immediately to the highest bidding corporate developer to actually carry out the work. The developer, with legal obligations to shareholders but none whatsoever to the community, discovers ruefully that modifications to the concept plan will have to be made in the interests of financial viability (public space and affordable housing are always the first babies overboard). The overseeing Consent Authority is the State Government which has just cashed the developer’s large cheque. They, just as ruefully, accept the modifications. If the State Government successfully rezones its land at the Jetty only two things are certain; this vital public land will be lost to the public forever and affordable housing will be built east of the railway line when hell freezes over. Regards, Frank SCAHILL, Coffs Harbour.
Did this happen at Honeysuckle, in Newcastle? I think not, the process of reactivating disused Government owned land, for the benefit of the NSW Community, is well proven and widely accepted. Coffs has not had any new offering to the tourism accommodation market for over 30 years. For those of us who have called Coffs Harbour home for several decades, who have benefitted by being able to establish successful businesses, raise our families here; it is time to accept change, embrace the future and provide new opportunities for future generations, just as we did. The current plans provide for an increased area of open recreational space, upgraded infrastructure, revitalised leisure areas. We need to embrace, Next, for the future. Let go of the past. Reply
