Recently, Ballina Shire Council made an unprecedented decision that will have dire consequences for our local biodiversity. Now, private landholders and big developers will have the final say over what happens to ecologically sensitive land.

A motion was passed by five independent councillors that will see Ballina Shire Council voluntarily surrender its own power to apply conservation zones. Now, private landholders and big developers will have the final say over what happens to thousands of hectares of ecologically sensitive land - and the community will have limited power to stop land-clearing or to protect biodiversity.

This is an unprecedented move from a local government body that has an explicit responsibility to protect the environment.

Recently, West Ballina residents have worked with the Greens to successfully lobby Council to apply a conservation zone to flood-prone and ecologically sensitive land on Burns Point Ferry Road in West Ballina. This would not have been possible if Council had given up its conservation powers.

Council staff have spent the last three years diligently working on a review into conservation zones, which would have seen environmentally sensitive land comprehensively assessed. This work is now worthless thanks to the Councillors who supported a motion to voluntarily abandon Council's conservation powers.

This is a truly devastating outcome for the environment, and music to big developers' ears. Council's ability to apply conservation zones to land owned by private owners and developers is now gone, which paves the way for widespread land-clearing and ecological destruction in the Ballina Shire with no community consultation.

Council absolutely needs the power to place protections on swathes of our native forest, and to protect our threatened and endangered species such as koalas, Albert's lyrebirds, and long-nosed potoroos. The independent councillors who supported this motion have ignored the community's best interests, their own Council staff, and their responsibility as a local government to protect the environment.

Now, private landholders and big developers have been given the sole power to decide what happens to environmentally sensitive land - and a number of recent examples tell us that developers do not make decisions with the community's best interests at heart - or with any mind to the interests of our precious threatened and endangered ecological communities.

The concept of "optional" Conservation Zones reflects a capture of the planning system by private interests, and the NSW Government now needs to step in and override this decision to ensure Ballina's environment remains safe. 

You can follow my Facebook page here to see updates on my work on this issue in New South Wales parliament.

Conservation is not optional.