West Yamba Urban Release Area (WYURA): Development application lodged for 120 Carrs Drive, Yamba

Despite pushback from locals, a plot of land in a Clarence Valley flood zone could soon host a $79 million development with hundreds of new homes.

A car negotiates water over Carrs Drive at Yamba. Picture: Rodney Stevens.

A massive $79 million development proposal has been lodged for a Clarence Valley area prone to flooding, despite widespread community discontent.

This month the Trustee For Yamba Land Trust submitted a proposal to build 216 homes and communal facilities on a 40-acre lot at 120 Carrs Dr, Yamba.

Records show the land was sold in April 2001 for $230,000. Two decades later, in July 2021, it was again sold, but for more than five million on that occasion.

The application comes after Clarence Valley Council rejected a rezoning proposal for the West Yamba Urban Release Area (WYURA), a flood plain area, at its last council meeting.

120 Carrs Drive, Yamba.

At the packed meeting, Deputy Mayor Greg Clancy tabled a notice of motion to petition the state government to rezone WYURA from residential to conservation or conservation/rural land.

Development in this patch of Yamba, which includes Carrs Dr, has long been a bone of contention for residents — one that has only become more heated in the light of the 2022 floods.

Deputy Mayor Greg Clancy has spoken out against developments in this area.

“The floods of early 2022 have brought this issue to a head as the number of residences in the WYURA will mean that the population of Yamba will increase by 2000 people,” council documents state.

“In the event of a major flood this will place extreme pressure on the SES (State Emergency Service) to protect and potentially evacuate these residents.”

A majority of councillors who voted against the motion stated they were aware of concerns, but it was not within the council‘s purview to rezone an area already earmarked for development by the government.

Carrs Drive, Yamba, during the 2022 floods.

Members of the community action group Stop The Fill Yamba posted about the recent development proposal online.

They urged residents to write to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Chris Minns and NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully.

“Send them your flood photos, tell them what happened in Yamba in 2022, tell them local residents have been seriously affected and are not being heard,” one group member posted.

“This madness has to stop!,” another member responded.

The application is still being assessed by the council and will be determined in coming months.

Originally published as West Yamba Urban Release Area (WYURA): Development application lodged for 120 Carrs Drive, Yamba