DATE: 18 JULY 2017
CC: AlanP@msc.qld.gov.au, NipperB@msc.qld.gov.au, KevinD@msc.qld.gov.au, MaryG@msc.qld.gov.au, AngelaT@msc.qld.gov.au, LenoreW@msc.qld.gov.au, TomG@msc.qld.gov.au, Peter@msc.qld.gov.au, brianm@msc.qld.gov.au, carle@msc.qld.gov.au, environment@ministerial.qld.gov.au, sdnrm@ministerial.qld.gov.au, Greg.Hunt.MP@aph.gov.au, barron.river@parliament.qld.gov.au, thepremier@premiers.qld.gov.au, Larissa.ferguson@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au, Michele.Bauer@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au, Karen.Oakley@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au, Steven.Tarte@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au
Dear Mayor
Can you please table this letter for the Council meeting 19th July 2017.
Dear Council
I read with shock and horror the meeting agenda.
There are two applications for reconfiguration of lots to be considered under the 2004 plan.
These are high density developments in an environmentally fragile area(Myola Valley, Kuranda) that now would no longer be deemed appropriate according to the MSC 2016 plan, the FNQ2031 plan and the SPP(Matters of Environmental significance).
There have been innumerable Cassowary sightings recorded by Kuranda Conservation in those areas, which makes it safe to say it is Cassowary habitat.
The community is under the impression that the Myola precinct which is supposed to validate those applications had been discarded years ago.
After the amalgamation and the TRC 2012 draft plan there was no more mention of the Myola precinct. The FNQ2031 plan also rejected the Myola precinct.
Following the deamalgamation which was forced upon a Kuranda Region community saw MSC, absent of a new planning scheme, dig out the old outdated 2004 MSC plan.
This did not validate the Myola precinct which in the mean time had gone through a long feasibility test and subsequently been discarded. The community clearly rejected it too as was seen in the extensive community consultation process for the draft TRC 2012 plan.
Rural residential subdivisions in an ecologically fragile area which is zoned rural under the MSC 2016 plan, would have been zoned rural under the draft TRC 2012 and was assumed to be zoned rural despite the resurrected MSC 2004 plan would amount to an environmental crime.
Please can you as elected members of the community fulfill its wish, vote for the environment and reject all three applications(including vegetation clearing in Mason Road) to apply the 2004 MSC plan in Kuranda.
Choosing to apply and outdated and rejected 2004 MSC plan would be against your obligations towards the community as elected members.
It is reasonable to expect Council to stand up for the community and their wishes and defend the values of the new planning scheme, if need be in court, should a developer choose to take legal action.
Many thanks
Nadine O’Brien[contacts supplied]