With so many involved in rural activities in one way or another, there is the potential they are unable to determine the matter due to the lack of a quorum.

Five is the magic number out of the eight.

As a result the council voted to refer the matter to the Office of Local Government (OLG) and/or the Minister seeking clarification as to what action it should take.

The General Manager, Michael Coulter, said he had seen a similar situation arise previously in another council and the first step taken by the OLG was to gather the details of each councillor’s perceived conflict and forensically test them.

“I have left a message and written to the OLG and am now awaiting their response,” Mr Coulter said.

In the past three years, the blueberry industry has expanded by 40 per cent. Most of this expansion has taken place around Coffs Harbour and Woolgoolga. The most recent expansion has occurred in greenfield sites south towards Nambucca and to the north between Halfway Creek and Grafton.

Local Government Areas most affected by the growth of the industry include Coffs Harbour, Clarence Valley, Bellingen, Nambucca and more recently Kyogle.

Whilst the blueberry industry presents many positive economic benefits for the local economy, the expansion of the industry has caused some environmental issues including breaches of vegetation and water legislation and concerns about off-site environmental impacts.

Social impacts from the industry are also being continually reported with concerns around scenic amenity, impacts to property values and land use conflict.

Blueberry production falls within the definition of horticulture and more broadly as intensive plant agriculture under the Nambucca Local Environmental Plan 2010 (NLEP).

Under the NLEP, horticulture is permissible without consent in the RU1 Primary Production, RU2 Rural Landscape and R5 Large Lot Residential zones.

Nambucca Shire Council is the only council out of those mentioned above which permits horticulture without development consent within the R5 Large Lot Residential zone.

Whilst it is considered reasonable to require any residential development in the R5 zone to provide the necessary rural buffers from agricultural activities in any adjoining rural zone; it is not considered to be reasonable to require additional buffers to agricultural land uses within the R5 zone.

This is not only because it is contrary to the intent of the zone, but because in many cases the residential land uses have commenced first, as promoted by the relevant planning instruments, and implementing the required buffers from the agricultural activities in many situations would result in residential zoned land which cannot practically be developed for residential uses.

An example of this is the establishment of a blueberry plantation within an R5 zoned section of 537 Old Coast Road, North Macksville where the blueberry plantation has been planted within 2m of the dividing boundary with 501 Old Coast Road and 15 Siding Road, North Macksville.

Under the current NLEP development consent was not required to plant the blueberries or erect the ancillary netting. However, this resulted in no consideration being given to the proximity of the blueberries to the future dwelling on number 501 (approved but not built) and significantly impacts the ability to further subdivide both 501 Old Coast Road and 15 Siding Road due to future allotments non-compliance with the rural buffer requirements contained within Part F of the Nambucca Development Control Plan 2010.

Given the intent is to promote residential development within the R5 zone; it is recommended that Council amend the NLEP by removing ‘horticulture’ from ‘permitted without consent’ in the land use table for the R5 Large Lot Residential zone and relocate it to ‘permitted with consent’. 

This will still enable the blueberry industry to expand into these areas; however, it will enable Council to regulate it to those areas of the R5 zone which will not result in adverse impacts on surrounding residential land.