“Order please councillors and others and also the gallery, could you please refrain from chirping in, we’re not going to go into a debate on this tonight,” Mayor Lee told the well-attended meeting.

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“No, there’s no further questions, it’s ceased,” he responded when a councillor requested to ask a second question of speaker Raewyn Macky.

Later he threatened to “clear the room” if the gallery would not remain quiet.

Emotion in the public gallery was high; next week, councillors are expected to vote on amendments to the Nambucca Local Environmental Plan (LEP 2010) which could see new horticulture operations to the region being forced to lodge Development Applications (DAs) before commencing work.

The possible changes come on the back of huge community groundswell and in particular, the activities of Nambucca Environment Network (NEN) in lobbying Council to take all possible steps to stem the tide of blueberry and other intensive horticulture farms to the area.

Some public gatherings to discuss berry operations in the Valley have attracted up to 200 community members with farmers and environmentalists presenting an unlikely union against the spread of large-scale intensive blueberry farms.

Raewyn Macky, a prominent member of the Nambucca Environment Network who has spoken on the topic of intensive horticulture at several previous council meetings, had just concluded her presentation when the Mayor made the remarks.

Her public forum speech presented a summary of the issues surrounding the recent spread of intensive horticulture in the Nambucca Valley including water usage, chemical run-off, land-clearing, land-use disputes and the current lack of requirement for buffer zones.

She urged councillors to vote for the LEP amendments and thus require DAs for horticulture.

Mayor Lee thanked Ms Macky for her time and disallowed further debate when Councillor James Angel began a line of questions about the herbicide “Paraquat” which Ms Macky had mentioned in reference to blueberry farming.

“I think it’s a little unfair that you say it’s a ‘blueberry specific agent’ because they sell it in Bunnings,” Cr Angel said. “Every public member can buy it. It is used across many farms.”

Paraquat is registered for use in Australia despite being banned in many other countries of the world.

The chemical has recently been the subject of a review by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) for its links to neuro-degenerative disease Parkinson’s.

A second speaker at the Council meeting, who spoke at the invitation of the NEN group, was Professor Kirsten Benkendorff of Southern Cross University.

Professor Benkendorff presented her findings regarding chemicals in crustaceans in areas north of the Nambucca Valley including Coffs Harbour and the Clarence River.

She discussed some of the problems with monitoring for chemicals in Australia, detailing the high cost and difficulty of finding substances which are not expected to be there.

“Seafood is rarely tested and is certainly not tested for pesticides because they prioritise what is used in a particular industry, but the seafood industry does not use pesticides,” she said.

She urged Council to vote to protect Nambucca Valley’s waterways in its upcoming determination of the LEP.

“This (LEP determination) is a major issue which we don’t take lightly,” Mayor Lee later told NOTA.

“I made a commitment to keep the public informed and to keep the information on point,” he added.

Oz Group CEO James Kellaway spoke with NOTA on behalf of the berry industry, reaffirming remarks he has previously delivered to Nambucca Valley Council concerning regulatory changes affecting the industry.

“If consumers are interested in their hip-pocket, they will need to realise that with increased regulation comes increased cost to the end product.

“The industry has no issue with increased regulation and we are always willing to comply.

“Chemical use and buffer zones are things that the industry takes very seriously.”

Mr Kellaway reassured the public of his belief that local growers were following the rules as set out by the APVMA.

“We have never had any breaches on chemical usage despite all the testing we do,” he said.

Mr Kellaway said that he suspected the proposed changes will not address the actual issues of concern for the
Public.

“If there are concerns over chemicals then the APVMA should address these,” he said.

By Ned COWIE