GREENS MP and planning spokesperson Cate Faehrmann has released a 40-page report that says there is a litany of unsustainable and inappropriate developments planned along the NSW coast that will detract from the amenity of coastal communities if allowed to proceed.

The report, ‘Concreting Our Coast: The developer onslaught destroying our coastal villages and environment’, documents twenty case studies along the length of the NSW coast and says these developments pose a serious cumulative threat to bushland, wildlife and coastal villages.

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“In town after town, community groups are fighting damaging and inappropriate developments that threaten to overwhelm their already struggling local services and infrastructure, and wipe out much of the precious bushland that surrounds them,” Ms Faehrmann said.

“This report shows just how scary the big picture is.”

Ms Faehrmann said the NSW Government has given developers the ‘green light’ to bulldoze thousands of hectares of bushland for development.

“Everywhere you look, our precious coast is about to disappear under a layer of concrete and houses crammed together like sardines.”

The report says that the developments are predominantly approved under the guise of providing affordable housing.

However, it points out that, in many of the villages under threat, up to two-thirds of existing housing lies vacant for much of the year, because they are holiday rentals, and it suggests that new housing will be purchased to add to property portfolios rather than as residential homes.

“We’re not talking about a couple of small bush blocks here.”’ Ms Faehrmann said.

“We’re talking about the destruction of very environmentally sensitive areas, as well as Aboriginal cultural heritage, on a massive scale.”

The Coffs Coast case study included in the report is not a housing development, but a ‘primitive camp ground’ at Red Rock.

The development application, with conditions included, was recently approved by the City of Coffs Harbour Council after the Mayor, Paul Amos, used his casting vote to break a tie.

While this development is small compared to some of the other case studies, which could dramatically affect the lifestyle of permanent residents and/or the local environment, it has been opposed by local residents because of fire and environmental risks.

The report acknowledges that people need affordable homes, near jobs, transport, health facilities and infrastructure, but says that this is not achieved through developments that result in overpriced real estate and expensive rentals that lead to more dangerous traffic, more polluted waterways or more properties at risk from bushfire.

It warns that, if the development is not stopped, the beautiful NSW coast will be unrecognisable in a matter of a few short years.

By Andrew VIVIAN