The Kings Forest Project Development in Tweed Shire ( Mt Warning Caldera Region – NSW, Australia ), by the property Group, Leda, has had an extension for Public Submission made, by the NSW Department of Planning. Kings Forest,on the coast near Kingscliff, NE NSW, is a beautiful, bio-diverse Significant State site (Part 3A of the NSW Planning Law) with Koala and other fauna habitat, freshwater coastal wetlands, swamp Schlerophyll Forests.
It includes areas of cleared land that could be regenerated to enhance these habitats and nearby ecological units. Kings Forest has a long history of community and scientific concern about it’s future. In the hands of developers – the Leda Group, it is being scrutinised by the Tweed Shire Council and the NSW Department of Planning. Kings Forest requires as much public input as possible to ensure that its habitats and the vital “corridor” role that it plays for vulnerable species such as Koalas and other native flora and fauna in the Mt Warning Caldera Region are protected and enhanced.
The areas about the Kings Forest site are already under much development pressure, as is much of the Tweed Shire Region, which is contained completely within the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW, Australia.
The extended public submissions for the Kings Forest Project in Tweed Shire, near Kingscliffe, will be accepted until 2nd March 2009.
Proposed and gazetted State Significant Sites : NSW Department of Planning (I updated this above link on 26th October 2009)
The Proposal Information can be found at:- http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au.
and more information can be found in the links below.
- **Kings Forest, Kingscliffe, Tweed : 06_0318 Residential Community – Preparing Response. This is the page you can view to find out the specific details for your submission/response to the Kings Forest (coastal area subdivision) Development by Leda, on the NE Coast of NSW, near Kingscliffe. “Subdivision to create new lots for future development; Construction of the entrance road to the site and associated intersection works on Tweed Coast Road; Subdivision and associated infrastructure works for the first stage of urban development; Bulk earthworks and planting for the proposed future golf course; and a service station and fast food outlet.” (Project application description at NSW Department of Planning)
- According to the Tweed Border Mail, the **Tweed Shire Council has raised concerns about threats to wildlife, and stormwater, sewerage and roads provisions proposed for the almost 10,000 homes that will be included in this, the Kings Forest Project, and the nearby Cobaki Lakes development, that is also being proposed by the developers.
- The development is by Bob Ells’ Leda group.
- Sydney Morning Herald Feb 8th 2003 “The Trick in the Tweed : take a good look at the Lie of the land” - some interesting history about the Kings Forest site 1970′s-2003
- Gold Coast City Council – 9th Nov 2007 “ Leda ordered to remediate illegally cleared land” - “Gold Coast City Council yesterday secured orders in the Planning and Environment Court compelling companies owned by Gold Coast billionaire developer Bob Ell to revegetate land that had been illegally cleared in November and December last year. City Planning Chair, Cr Ted Shepherd, said the Court had judged that Leda Developments Pty Ltd and Leda Developments No. 2 had cleared major portions of a holding of about 100 hectares at Pimpama without the relevant development permits from the Council.” view article to read more
- ** If you follow the links below, you will get to the Planning Documents for Kings Forest (Residential Community Development 06 0318 ) :- START HERE : NSW Department of Planning Home » Development Assessments » Major Project Assessments »THEN click on Major Projects Part 3A then, Coastal Areas » Subdivisions . You should find the Kings Forest Documents by this time. Good luck!!!! Failing that, just click HERE : **Kings Forest, Kingscliffe, Tweed
- Environmental Assessment Exhibition – Major Project – Kings Forest (MP06_0308) Residential Community Development – Council Submission –
- Kings Forest – on Google Maps –
- Kings Forest and Development – North Coast, New South Wales, Australia aerial photos at airviewonline.com.au
- The Caldera Environment Centre in NE NSW, Australia shows insights, in their submission to the NSW Government and objection to the planned Kings Forest and Cobakai Lakes Development , summing up the King’s Forest Project situation very clearly. You should have a read of this Submission HERE. Well, the submission and position statement of the Caldera Environment Centre WAS there, but now, well, it appears to have disappeared.
- Big Scrub Environment Centre – Kings Forest
- Total Environment Centre – Kings Forest
- Tweed Shire Echo
- Bluecray SEARCH results : Regional Environmental News – Mt Warning Caldera Region – Kings Forest NSW Planning
- Kings Forest and the NSW State Government **State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Projects) 2005 – Kings Forest as viewed by the NSW Government currently, under planning policy
- **Koala Priority Actions : NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change
- Koala fact sheet NSW Government
- Development project threatens second largest Koala Colony in Tweed Shire - candobetter.org ** this is a good article to help you understand this development, with contact details for the project and some great Koala info
- 6 Threatened Flora species and 21 threatened FAUNA species have been identified at the Kings Forest SITE. Summaries and conclusions from the Threatened Species Management Plan for Kings Forest conclude that these threatened species will continue to persist on the site following this future development. Read this document (to be found here)
- Kings Forest Development threatenes 21 Threatened Species of Fauna . This article includes a list of some of the Threatened species that are at risk from Bob Ell’s Leda development at Kings Forest, (including the Koala -Phascolarctos cinereus ), with links to find out more about some of them.
- Convention on Biological Diversity – Treaty signed and ratified by Australia for Convention on Biological Diversity :-
- **”Conservation of biological diversity is the subject of Chapter 15 of Agenda 21, which was adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in 1992, in Rio de Janeiro. At the same Conference, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which has subsequently entered into force, was opened for signature” (United Nations – Division for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs)
- **Tweed Shire Council Flora and Fauna Management ( there appears to be a typo on this page – it says “flora and flora” management… but I guess they mean flora and fauna!!!!) There is plenty in here to show that Kings Forest is indeed both regionally important, and important to Australia and the world, given the pressures of development on and within the region. Koalas are only one feature of this regional importance that Kings Forest holds…. there is much much more – have a good look!!!!
- Submission on the Proposed Biodiversity Banking Scheme February 2008 – Environmental Defender’s Office and Total Environment Centre submission:-“Our concerns regarding the variation process are outlined in a letter to DECC, which can be found at: www.edo.org.au/edonsw/site/policy.php. In summary, our main concerns are:………………………………………………………..As a result of widespread development throughout the Tweed Coast in the last decade, many species have had their ranges significantly reduced. Kings Forest is a regional stronghold for many species such as the Long-nosed potaroo and the planigale. This area contains the only viable areas of native vegetation faunal communities across the Tweed Coast. Large parts of this area have been flagged for development in the Far North Coast Regional Strategy because of lobbying by the development industry.”
- Tweed Development and Employment – with particular reference to the Leda Development at Kings Forest – ( Hansard Transcript – NSW Parliament 18th october 2006)
- Tweed Daily News – “Developer’s Plans Open to Public” – 16th December 2008 “ BILLIONAIRE property developer Bob Ell’s company, Leda, has lodged formal applications with the NSW Government for Tweed’s biggest yet residential developments — Cobaki Lakes on the Queensland border and Kings Forest inland of Casuarina Beach…….” read rest of article
- Tweed Daily News 17th February 2009 “Developments Uncertain” by Peter Caton
- Biolink Ecological Consultants – they did Kings Forest Koala Plan of Management for Leda Devlopments
- Revised Koala Management Plan – by Ecoindig Resources – Frank Carrick superceding the above report – (Development Footprint and Native Vegetation Clearing Assessment google HTML DOC) – sorry, couldn’t find the actual report – this planning document retrieval is a nightmare!!!! but highly educational
- Landpartners – Threatened Species Management Plan Kings Forest couldn’t get their web page to work, but Google HTML doc about Landpartners is here
- Everick Heritage Consultants Pty Ltd – they did the Cultural Heritage Assessment for Kings Forest Development 2008
- Planning Workshop Australia – Kings Forest and some other State Significant Sites’ work for developers.
- Geolink Environmental Management and Design- Strategic Planning Project Planning – Kings Forest
- **jbaplanning.com.au – JBA Urban Planning Consultants : On Exhibition – Kings Forest Environmental Assessment
- Assessment of Off-Site Impacts Associated with Development inAccordance with theKings Forest Concept Plan – jbaplanning.com.au
- Threatened Species and Ecological Communities – Australian Government
- Biodiversity Assessment NE NSW – Mammals
- Bats – Australian Museum - what threatens them, photos and more
- Little Bentwing Bat (Miniopteris australis) and also Little Bentwing Bat profile at NSW Threatened Species website
- The Importance of Tree Hollows estimated 50-100 years for Hollows to occur in vegetation communities
- Little Bentwing-bat – Northern Rivers: Distribution and vegetation associations in the Northern Rivers – Threatened Species NSW
- The Little Bent-wing Bat Miniopteris australis roosting in a tree hollow - ”location of M. australis in a tree hollow indicates that timber harvesting and land clearance may also affect roost sites at certain times of the year.“
- Phantom Koala and the Roadworks at Bluecray Blog “A Balance of Faeries”
- A Balance of Faeries – a story about the effects of clearing vegetation in a stressed landscape bluecray.org
Little Bat finds NE NSW Coast Lifestyle, near Kings Forest to much to survive in
This little Bat in the above photo is a consequence of development – dead on the doorstep of a duplex in the housing development west of Pottsville. With 21 threatened fauna species threatened even more by Leda and the development proposed, what will be the costs, if all that stands between them, and survival, is documents written, verbal provisions made and “intentions” outlined, when the bulldozers and engineering machinery move into Kings Forest and further develop this area?
“A preliminary investigation of the distribution of koalas and their potential habitat in the Tweed Shire, and implications for management” by Judy Faulks . I can no longer find this article/ reference to it on the internet, but you may have more luck by looking for it. I originally found it at – Australian Zoologist, June 1991 Vol. 27(1 & 2). You may find it here at the Royal Zoological Society of NSW in the Journals. Alternatively, try this google search : australian zoologist June 1991 Vol. 27(1 & 2)
- search for Aboriginal (Indigenous peoples) research literature for the North Coast of NSW at the Libraries Australia Search
- “A Balance of Faeries” – 1989 by al at bluecray.org : a story about Koala Habitat clearing and the consequences
What is the use of a submission?
A submission, if grounded in something that can then be used as a precedent in court, or as a future basis to change law, is valuable.
A submission that teaches one how to become better informed and resilient to being overwhelmed and misdirected is fantastic!
A show of public support is also valuable, but not necessarily ( as the Woolworths site in Mullimbimby has shown), a way to stop inappropriate development.
The Leda groups has shown that is has a history of extreme social and environmental ignorance and environmental vandalism, but this is condoned by every passive person in society, every inappropriate, ever increasing piece of legislation that is passed by parliaments, every self serving environmental consultant that craves ego and money prestige. This passiveness of society (ectetera) and ignorance of environment and social wellbeing, can be illustrated by the Murray Darling system catastrophe.
The large amounts of money, effort and scientific legal justification and jargon can be overwhelming in an instance such as the Kings Forest development. However, the energy is with nature and the land.
This may sound esoteric, but, in hindsight, the owners of such a parcel of land, such as this, often meet with a self directed misfortune and disgrace that may even stop more developments such as these going ahead. The land at Kings Forest is very powerful. Do not ever underestimate the power of “land” and the spirit that works with it!
It is the energy of the matter that is important, education to the masses. Not letting the power of money and developer “right of way”, inappropriate scientifically based jargon and law force people into a submissive stance rests with reminding yourself of your own energy and path. If it is your path, or someone else’s to make a submission, then, that IS THEIR PATH
This development is a reflection of exactly where society, in the NE region of NSW, directs their vision. You are right in questioning the usefulness of a submission. I was involved in a couple of such submissions years ago, and after actively involving people in the community, one such submission lead to a Qld DEH moratorium on the development, and then, later, much slower development. The other, ended up in court, on the behalf of the ACF. Money passed behind closed doors, even the courts ruled in ACF’s favour, but, the development stumbled ahead – the lesson was learnt that corruption, and greed are still alive and well on the planet. More lessons? The purpose? To stay firmly in your vision, and to keep the vision of caring for the land alive.
And, above all, at least find something in the submission that may be later used, at least, somewhere else.
Greed is pretty smart, and sneaky. But, in the end, it eats itself, and nature continues on its way regardless. It is the love and that vision of love and caring, helping others, that distinguishes the greedy developer from the caring one.