Mayor’s View – 18th September, 2008
Council met last week in Cardwell, as part of the undertaking to be accessible to the whole Cassowary Coast Region. We took the opportunity to visit the Rockingham Home, Cardwell Care Inc., to talk with the directors, staff and residents about the problems facing the elderly in our community.
Normal Council business was not contentious and was dealt with in a few hours, before we went into committee, closed to the public, to consider legal advice regarding the calf raising facility in Innisfail that is causing an odour nuisance to nearby residents.
The previous Johnstone Shire Council ruled that the project did not have the required approvals. Our legal advisers considered all the details and agreed with these conclusions. In the meantime the operators have continued with a feeding regime to reduce odours.
Despite a period of some months with no complaints from neighbours, the frequency of complaints has now increased. Given legal advice and the ongoing odour problems, Council was left with no alternative than to decide to enforce the decision to close the facility.
This will not please the operators, who had obtained a Federal Government grant for the facility and want to continue to make a contribution to the local economy.
The previous land use for poultry production was protected as an existing right when the planning scheme was introduced, but this protection lapsed with the closure of the poultry farm.
This case highlights the flow on effects of rural residential areas being scattered throughout the Region.
I am a strong supporter of rural residential developments, but they need to be placed away from intensive rural land use areas. Such intensive uses are often on good quality land which may be in close proximity to town centres. Problems of odour, spray drift etc from intensive agriculture increase with proximity to residences.
There is also the issue of providing services to rural residential blocks. Blocks closer to existing services are more easily and economically serviced.
Poorer agricultural land could and should be utilised for rural residential blocks however, such as the land behind Kurrimine Beach and the township of Cardwell. These types of areas perhaps should have been included in the urban footprint in the 2025 Statutory Plan.
In general, Council is often faced with resolving problems caused by poor decisions by all levels of government in the past. Our job is to ensure that there is a sound foundation, based on facts and reason, behind our decisions. The decisions may not always be popular, but my aim is to have decision making accountable and rational, not secretive, parochial, populist or sectional.
People may not agree with the outcomes, but I like to think that they can understand and appreciate the Council’s rationale and then agree to differ if necessary. The calf raising facility / rural residential issue is a case in point.