Leda to challenge cat bans in Cobaki and Kings Forest

Leda to challenge cat bans at Cobaki and Kings Forest as final approvals just months away

CHALLENGE: Leda to challenge cat ban in Land and Environment Court.

THE developer behind the massive new estates of Cobaki and Kings Forest is seeking to overturn a restriction on residents owning cats in the estates.

Kings Forest and Cobaki have been in the planning for 30 years and Leda's regional manager Reg van Rij said they would be ready to start subdividing with construction permits in hand by April.

Once completed, Cobaki, just west of the Gold Coast Airport, and Kings Forest, southwest of Kingscliff, would be home to 13,000 and 11,000 people respectively.

But under current plans, the towns - each the size of Murwillumbah - would prohibit residents from owning cats after Tweed Shire Council implemented the ban years ago following sustained lobbying by koala activists.

Mr Van Rij said Leda would seek to have the cat clause scratched at Cobaki in mediation between Tweed Shire Council and the NSW Department of Planning this week, as part of a step in the initial Land and Environment Court case.

A similar meeting about the Kings Forest ban is scheduled for later this year. The ban was implemented during the NSW government's concept plan assessment process in 2009.

The prohibition on purring pets was suggested in four submission, one from an individual and three from concerned environmental groups.

The suggestions were adopted by the Tweed Shire Council and the state government, which formally lodged it in the concept plan approved in 2010.

Leda applied to have the clause removed but that application was denied forcing the developer to take the condition to court.

Mr van Rij said the Leda would be ready to start subdividing Kings Forest and Cobaki in April.

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