Mullumbimby Action Group -> articles -> battlenotover

Woolworths Mullumbimby Battle is not Over!!!!

Full size computer projection of the proposed woolworths Mullumbimby supermarket buiding in Station St.

Woolworths and those hoping to benefit financially may well like us to believe that nothing now stands in the way of their dream to build the Woolworths Mullumbimby big box supermarket. However there is a sticky point they seem to have overlooked

As recently stated by Byron Shire Councils (BSC) Director of Planning, Ray Darney;

‘A condition of consent remains requiring that a Section 68 Application must be obtained for the onsite sewer management system prior to the issue of a Construction Certificate. The Section 68 Certificate can only be issued by Council and this will allow Council officers to again revisit the effluent disposal issues in relation to the site.’

Although down in Sydney the Department of Planning may have had too many Christmas drinks and folded under the weight of Woolworths lobbyists, as consolation they would have known BSC would ultimately have the final say on Woolworths bumbling mish mash of on-site sewage proposals.

Clearly before any earth works or concrete, a Construction Certificate, and as a Condition of Consent a Section 68 Approval is required for the on-site sewage system and only BSC can issue that approval. BSC has stated very clearly that what has been proposed is flawed and inadequate.

There is no way BSC will grant a Section 68 Approval that sets a precedent for dodgy inadequate onsite sewage systems on an urban site that is waterlogged for long periods and flood prone.

Woolworths may well be forced to wait for the upgrading of the Mullumbimby town sewage system before a Construction Certificate can be issued. Before Woolworth’s can connect to Mullums sewage system, all upgrade work will be required to demonstrate that it can perform to it’s EPA license plus BSC will have to fix the long time problem of raw sewage overflows into the Brunswick River due to Mullum’s grossly inadequate sewage collection pipe work.

We may well continue to enjoy the town of Mullumbimby with out the ‘big box store’ for some time to come.