Tempers flare during Bega Valley Shire Council debate on $14.9m timber hub
Debate over a controversial $14.9 million development erupted during a south coast council meeting after one councillor asked another to put on his mask, prompting him to respond it made her sound “like a lunatic”.
The South Coast News
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Tempers have flared during a south coast council’s debate over whether to approve plans for a controversial $14.9 million hi-tech timber optimisation hub.
Emotions spilled over during a heated Bega Valley Shire Council debate over the planned hub on Wednesday, when councillor Jo Dodds requested fellow councillor Mitchell Nadin wear his Covid mask.
“Just get on with your own life,” Cr Nadin was heard to reply, before responding to Cr Dodds’s request by saying she sounded “neurotic” and “like a lunatic”.
While Cr Nadin then put on his mask, he refused Cr Dodds’s request to withdraw his comments.
Meanwhile, the council approved a motion to allow the Allied Natural Wood Enterprises’ development application for the hub on Edrom Rd south of Eden.
The planned hub will contain a log sorter and a sawmill, along with plants for pallets and briquettes, which the council described as “higher value” products.
Earlier this year, south coast conservation group South East Forest Rescue took last year’s decision by the council to approve the hub to the NSW Land and Environment Court, with the court ruling in August that the original development consent process by the council in 2020 was “invalid, void and of no force and effect”
The court found approval was made under staff delegation, and gave the council until September 15 to correct the process.
The day before the deadline, councillors voted to approve the construction of a log sorter, sawmill, pallet plant and briquette plan, four votes to three. The move saw the conservation group take further action in the courts, with a hearing now set for November.
Before the meeting, South East Forest Rescue members Lisa Stone, who is also a south coast lawyer, and Harriet Swift told councillors the motion should be voted down.
“The applicant is big and powerful, and they are used to getting their way,” Ms Swift said.
“This vote is about the future of the forests of NSW and Victoria.
“It’s a massive responsibility you have here in front of you.”
Ms Stone said there was no way approval of the hub could be seen as being in the public interest.
“It certainly does not fit the definition of net zero,” she said.
“Councillors, the power is in your hands. You have the chance to make real change.
“It’s time to prove that political will still exists.”
Ms Stone said the group was also concerned about export reports stating logged forests “burn hotter” in bushfires.
“This (hub) will benefit very few people,” she said.
“I don’t want to be running from another bushfire like I did last time (during the Black Summer fires).”
An Allied Natural Wood Enterprises spokesman said the hub would not increase the amount of timber harvested in the Bega Valley, as existing agreements were in place.
“Through this development, ANWE will process a proportion of the existing pulp logs into solid timber products,” they said.
“These solid timber products will have a longer-term cycle than the sustainable paper products that the pulp logs are currently processed into overseas.
“In addition, there will be a higher proportion of locally processed products reducing the fossil fuels used to transport the products overseas.”
When asked by councillor Robyn Bain how much had been spent by the council in legal fees on the issue, director of community, environment and planning, Alice Howe, said an answer would be known as soon as next week.
Greens councillor Cathy Griff said 165 public submissions had been received against the building of the hub.
“This industry has a very short time to run, because of the amount of wood left after the fires, and the condition of the wood,” she said.
She said pallets and briquettes should not be considered “high level products”, and described bush hit by the Black Summer fires as akin to a “bomb” site.
“Around the world the logging industry will be closed down,” she said.
“Tourism and sustainable development will be our future in the Bega Valley.”
Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said construction of the hub was in the public interest.
“How you can say it’s not is beyond me,” he said.
“If we were doing a DA for Bega Cheese we wouldn’t be asking how they milk their cows.
“I strongly recommend it be approved.”
Cr Dodds said she was against the hub, despite concerns over the future of jobs at the saw and chip mill.
“I oppose it 100 per cent, no matter the cost to jobs,” she said.
“We are obliged to help them transition to a renewable and sustainable income that doesn’t burn their homes down.”
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