Ballina shire council has approved a plan that will pave the way for future development on part of a floodplain at West Ballina.
The decision allows for just 40 hectares of the 540-hectare site to be transformed into sporting fields and an industrial estate.
“It’s not a zone change. All it does is provide some structure for the landowners as to what they can and can’t do. And requests to do somethng specific with the land would require a zone change,” said the mayor Phil Silver.
The West Ballina precinct forms part of the state government’s regional plan.
Concern had been raised about the impacts of land filling a floodplain.
“If we had done nothing or we had not been able to arrive at a conclusion the previous situation would have prevailed and that was for a much much greater urban impact.”
