State Member for Bega Dr Michael Holland and a staff member speaking with a Bermagui resident about unwanted development. Photos: Marion Williams.
Inappropriate development, inadequate mental healthcare and the housing crisis were among the issues that Bermagui residents raised with State Member for Bega Dr Michael Holland when the MP’s mobile office visited their town on Thursday (14 August).
One man spoke about the Sapphire Cove development that is underway. He said the development was originally approved to go ahead in eight stages, but the developer had since asked to do it all in one go.
The man was one of several residents unhappy that runoff from the 24-hectare site turned Bermagui’s harbour and nearby waterways brown in early July.
“The development application (DA) talks about managing rainfall, but there was no mitigation,” he said. “If it was me as an individual, council would stop me and fine me. The DA conditions have been ignored.”
He also spoke about the proposed gated development for over 60s in Nutleys Creek Road.
“The volume of opinion against this development, a gated community and the bushfire risk,” he said. “What importance do you put on the opinion of the locals versus council’s view.”
The man said in cities, a percentage of every major housing development must be affordable housing. He also suggested that developments with 20 houses or more should include a community battery to add value to the estate.
Dr Holland, at his mobile office in Bermagui on 14 August, talking with a Bermagui resident about the housing crisis.
A second man said the Nutleys Creek Road development raised environmental concerns and the DA contained several inconsistencies. As a first responder trained in evacuations, he said it was a “nightmare” evacuating elderly people who were deaf or less mobile.
“We wrote to council about this development, telling them we have these questions and we wanted to meet with the developer, but council wasn’t interested,” he said.
A woman spoke of the difficulties of forming an opinion on DAs because the council’s portal was “poor”. People had to trawl through hundreds of pages and only had 21 days to make a submission.
The woman was also against developers taking DAs to the Land and Environment Court after the council had rejected them.
“Council knows what can be put into the region,” she said. “They need to have the final say.”
She said a seniors development was not needed in Bermagui as elderly people did not stay there, given the lack of medical facilities. Rather, accommodation was needed for the influx of hospitality workers during summer.
Another woman asked what plans were in place to address the area’s housing crisis. Dr Holland mentioned the development of the former TAFE college in Bega. She said many short-term rentals had been converted into long-term rentals for people working on the new hospital in Moruya and asked whether the number of Airbnbs in the area could be capped.
People waiting to speak with Dr Holland at his mobile office.
She, along with a man, raised the issue of mental health.
“There have been multiple suicides and Bermagui is tightly knit,” the woman said. “We need mental health first aid and workshops facilitated.”
Dr Holland said Bega had a Safe Haven mental health facility.
The woman also spoke about the lack of support for youth.
“There is no PCYC hub, kids have no transport, and they need a purpose to help keep them out of trouble.”
Anthony Jubb and his two brothers have run Bermagui’s slipway for more than 20 years. He spoke with Dr Holland about the difficulties he has had trying to renew the lease on the land where the slipway sits. The filtration system needs updating and to obtain the loan necessary to make that investment, Mr Jubb needs a long-term lease.
Some children from Bermagui Preschool came to ask for a pedestrian crossing. They had drawn pictures of people with worried faces, which the preschool’s director Narelle Myers said spoke volumes.
Ms Myers said they had done a risk assessment based on so many near misses. They soon garnered 50 signatures on a petition for a zebra crossing near Apex Playground.
“Everywhere they want to go – the beach, the playground, the Gelati Clinic – is on the other side of the road.”
Other issues raised included the lack of a rescue plan for Barragga Bay and the need to preserve Cuttagee Bridge’s heritage value. One woman asked about having an early skin cancer detection machine at the Bega or Moruya hospitals and another said the age pension for singles should be increased, given rising food, electricity and insurance costs.
She said the issue should be debated and discussed openly in Parliament.
“People don’t speak up because there is shame you are on the pension and don’t have a lot of superannuation,” she said.
