Community Questions Council Over Development Breach
In the heart of Bayside Brunswick Heads, where the Wallum landscape still shelters endangered frogs and feeds rare Glossy Black Cockatoos, a legal and ecological time bomb is ticking.
At the centre of it all: a creek, a consent condition, and a community that won't back down.
The “Bayside Brunswick” development by Clarence Property, formally called “Wallum” — a sprawling 124-lot residential proposal at 15 Torakina Road — continues to stir fierce public outcry, not only for its impact on biodiversity, but now for what residents allege is a clear breach of consent conditions relating to riparian protection.
The Missing 20 Metres
In planning documents dating back to July 9, 2013, the Concept Plan Approval (CPA) for the Wallum site included Condition B4 — a requirement that a minimum 20-metre buffer zone be maintained on both sides of the central creek running north-south through the site. This buffer was designed as a Riparian Protection Zone (RPZ) under modern Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) principles — a safeguard meant to shield waterways from the impacts of urban stormwater and preserve natural habitat for native wildlife, including the vulnerable Wallum Sedgefrog and Glossy Black Cockatoo.
But according to long-time campaigners and concerned residents, that buffer has effectively disappeared in the latest development stage.
Community objections about this breach began surfacing in December 2023, but the concerns reached a new crescendo at the Byron Shire Council meeting on 14 August 2025, where local resident Svea Pitman again raised alarm. “The cut and fill is right to the edge of the creek,” Pitman said. “There is no way this complies with the CPA.”
A newly proposed stormwater swale — a kind of drain — sits directly within the buffer zone, according to 2023 Civil Tech plans. Vegetation, including critical habitat species like Allocasuarina littoralis (the key food source for the endangered South-eastern Glossy Black Cockatoo), is being removed in direct contradiction to the requirement that the RPZ remain intact.
Official Silence, Community Frustration
When Cr Dey submitted a formal Question With Notice to Council staff on 5 September 2024, the response confirmed that B4 was "not met" — but added that the consent condition was “varied” under the 2023 approval by the Northern Regional Planning Panel (NRPP). No evidence or documentation to support this claim has ever been made public.
The 2023 NRPP approval explicitly stated that “all existing consent conditions must be met.” Nowhere did it indicate B4 was amended or removed. And neither did the March 2023 Clause 34A Certificate — the so-called “zombie DA” exemption — that continues to shield the development under outdated environmental assessments made before 2017.
“This is not a minor technicality,” said Pitman. “This is a fundamental breach of a key consent condition meant to protect a creek system and threatened species.”
A Creek Reborn, Now At Risk
Fifteen years ago, the central creek was largely devoid of vegetation. Today, it is a thriving riparian corridor lined with regrowth, including towering she-oaks and thick sedgelands. Ecologists during the recent Federal Court case confirmed that numerous unmapped trees now populate the area within the 20-metre buffer — none of which were accounted for in the original tree retention and removal plans.
The area also forms part of Management Zone 3b in the Wallum Froglet Management Plan, which Council accepted in February 2024 — despite the fact the plan fails to honour Condition B4 and would see the buffer cleared for infrastructure.
“If this condition isn’t enforced, it sets a dangerous precedent,” said one local ecologist who asked not to be named. “We’re seeing the erosion of critical riparian habitat under the guise of progress — all with Council’s rubber stamp.”
Legal Pathways Ignored?
Residents argue that Byron Shire Council has legal tools at its disposal to act. Under Section 9.44 of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979, the Council can initiate proceedings to “remedy and restrain” any development in breach of consent conditions. It can also issue a Development Control Order under Section 9.34 or revoke the Stage 1 Construction Certificate issued in March 2024.
Despite repeated calls — and documented legal advice presented during the Federal Court proceedings — the Council has not taken formal action.
Critics say the lack of enforcement reflects a deeper malaise. “The community is doing all the work here — we’re monitoring, we’re reporting, we’re showing up,” said Pitman. “Meanwhile, the developer moves ahead, and we keep hearing the same promise from Council: ‘We’ll look into it.’”
What’s At Stake
At stake is more than a technical planning dispute.
This creek — and its buffer — is vital habitat for the Wallum Sedgefrog, listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act, and dependent on acidic, tannin-stained swamps and creeks like this one for survival. It’s also a key feeding ground for the Glossy Black Cockatoo, now in sharp decline after catastrophic bushfires and habitat loss, and likely habitat for Australia’s most endangered marsupial, the north eastern long nosed bandicoot.
This fight speaks to a broader issue: what value does the community, and its Council, truly place on biodiversity? Is it really the community's job to keep doing the heavy lifting when it comes to ensuring laws are adhered to for protecting our natural environment.
Sidebar: What Is Condition B4?
Part of the 2013 Concept Plan Approval, B4 states:
A minimum 20m riparian buffer must be applied on both sides of the central creek.
No stormwater infrastructure is permitted within the buffer zone.
Vegetation must be retained and enhanced within the RPZ.
Originally, government agencies recommended a 100m buffer. That was compromised to 50m, on both sides of the creek, this was then halved again during negotiations — yet now the heavily reduced minimum 20m buffer is now under threat.
Proposed Motions to Council
Campaigners have called for Byron Shire Council to:
Initiate legal proceedings under s9.44 of the EP&A Act to restrain the breach of Condition B4.
Revoke the 2024 construction certificate issued in error for non-compliant management plans.
Issue a Compliance Order requiring the full 20m riparian buffer be reinstated and protected.
What can you do?
Write to Byron Shire Council asking for an urgent staff report on this matter.
See list of contacts here https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Council/Leadership/Mayor-Councillors