YambaCAN rallies objectors as Golding Street development heads to court
By Tim Howard
Flooding, environmental concerns and community safety drive renewed opposition to Yamba’s proposed townhouse development.
Yamba community group YambaCAN has launched a fresh campaign against the contentious development proposed for 30 Golding Street, on the Yamba floodplain.
The group has urged residents to lodge objections before the matter returns to the Land and Environment Court.
Submissions on DA2023/0776 close at 4pm on Monday, October 5, with YambaCAN calling on residents to reinforce the grounds Clarence Valley Council relied on when it refused the development last year.
The proposal, for a two-lot subdivision and 16 townhouses, has been the subject of strong community opposition, particularly from residents of the neighbouring Grevillea Waters Over 50s community.
YambaCAN chair Col Shephard said the group was urging people to stand with the approximately 225 Grevillea Waters residents and the wider Yamba community.
“If this Development Application is approved in the Land and Environment Court, the consequences will be severe and long-lasting,” the group told members and supporters.
Rather than asking residents simply to register their opposition, YambaCAN has encouraged submissions to focus on the 11 grounds Clarence Valley Council cited when it refused the application on September 18, 2025.
Those grounds included potential impacts on two endangered ecological communities and threatened fauna, alteration of natural water flows, flooding and evacuation risks, impacts on surrounding properties and concerns about whether the development was in the public interest.
Council also cited unresolved matters raised by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Flooding has been one of the central issues throughout the long-running dispute.
The site is within a mapped floodway and council’s refusal raised concerns that the development could alter flood behaviour and increase flood levels affecting surrounding properties.
Evacuation during major flooding was also among council’s reasons for refusing the proposal.
The refusal represented a significant reversal of the recommendation put before councillors.
Council staff had recommended the development be approved, subject to conditions, but councillors instead voted 6–3 to refuse it.
Crs Greg Clancy, Lynne Cairns, Shane Causley, Cristie Yager, Peter Johnstone and Ray Smith supported refusal.
Crs Allison Bryant, Debrah Novak and Karen Toms opposed the refusal.
The applicant subsequently appealed council’s decision to the NSW Land and Environment Court.
A conciliation conference held earlier this year failed to resolve the dispute, leaving the matter to proceed to a hearing.
The case is listed for three days from November 18, with proceedings expected to begin with an inspection of the Golding Street site before continuing in Sydney.
The renewed exhibition means the community now has another opportunity to put its concerns formally before council ahead of that hearing.
YambaCAN has urged objectors to make submissions in their own words rather than simply reproducing its material.
“Every submission counts,” the organisation told supporters.
The campaign sets up another round in what has become one of Yamba’s most contentious development disputes, with the developer seeking to overturn council’s refusal and opponents preparing to demonstrate that community concerns about flooding, environmental impacts and public safety remain unresolved.
Submissions close at 4pm on Monday.
