Community right to Save Wallum

A stone’s throw from the western shore of Simpsons Creek, on the NSW Far North Coast, a flying duck orchid, a wildflower native to the region, stretches its elegant neck towards the sun. Wearing a cape of red, purple and green, the bloom is tiny, barely 2 centimetres tall—blink and you’d miss it.

The native orchid is thriving in a 30-hectare pocket of Wallum heath on the eastern skirt of Brunswick Heads, a 15-minute drive north of Byron Bay. But its days are numbered if a pre-approved, 124-lot residential development goes ahead.

“Most of the plants in this environment can’t actually be cultivated or grown in a garden,” says environmental scientist and Save Wallum community group spokesperson James Barrie. “They need a very specific ecology and hydrology, which relies on coffee rock, an ancient peat substrate that hardens around sand, forming a water-dense layer. This unique soil matrix is what sustains the extremely specific Wallum Wildflower Heathland ecology.

“The flying duck is just one of thousands of wildflowers that could be lost. And then there’s the swathe of native wildlife.”

According to Svea Pitman, fellow environmental scientist and Save Wallum spokesperson, this unique coastal wetland encompasses three endangered ecological communities and 24 threatened species, nine of which are listed as threatened under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act). “We’re talking about the koala, the Mitchell’s rainforest snail and the Wallum sedge frog,” she says. “The latter is listed as Vulnerable to Extinction, primarily due to habitat loss from coastal development.

“There’s also the 76 scribbly gums that are more than 400 years old. They’re vital for the local glossy-black cockatoo population. It takes 200 years for a scribbly gum to even begin to form a hollow, and more than 300 years for that hollow to become large enough to be suitable for a breeding pair.”

As well as being a haven for wildlife, the wallum heath has a high water table and abounds in peat and sphagnum moss, which are both high carbon storing agents. “The development has been sold on its eco credentials but that’s total greenwashing,” Svea says. “The centre of the site, 12 hectares, fills up like a bathtub after rain, and becomes a breeding ground for thousands of frogs.”

Despite the Save Wallum campaign, which has been underway since February 2024 and has garnered the support of an ever-growing cohort of vocal locals who maintain a 24/7 presence at the site, the developer, Clarence Properties, is pushing ahead with its plans.

Zombie DAs

“The issue is,” says Svea, “the ‘Zombie DA [Development Approval]’. It was approved in 2013 based on reports completed in the early to mid 2000s. It’s been resurrected from the grave and has come back to haunt us.”

Unique to NSW, zombie developments reflect the law at the time the development was initially approved. But planning and environmental standards have changed since some of these older approvals (known as ‘consents’) were issued, as have community expectations.

“Very sadly, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment issued an exemption certificate to the developer stating it didn’t have to have any current environmental assessments done and that it could stand by what was approved years ago,” Svea says. “But of course, the environmental standards from decades ago are not the same as today.”

In June, the Save Wallum community lodged a submission with the Legislative Assembly Committee on Environment and Planning, which had called for public “submissions on the impact of these development consents… The Committee would really like to hear from members of the community, businesses and local councils who live near or are affected by historical development consents.”

Cultural significance

A month earlier, Bundjalung Traditional Owners requested permanent protection of the site due to its cultural significance.

Representatives from seven clans of the Bundjalung Nation submitted an application under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act to the office of the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, on behalf of a group.

The application details the significance of the Wallum site, including Aboriginal cultural pathways, significant pre-colonial trees, significant ceremonial and cultural associations and specifically to protect totemic associations with threatened species that rely on the site, including the grey-headed flying-fox, koala, black cockatoo and wallum frog, which hold significant spiritual meaning for many clans and nations.

“The Wallum site is important because it is part of the three brother's story,” says Letitia Kelly. “Many mobs have pathways across the lands. It is important we stand for comprehensive cultural heritage information to be undertaken by all mobs affected by areas which are under threat. This site is particularly important because of pathways and cultural totemic associations within the site. It is crucial for the region and for many Aboriginal communities and societies, who are entitled to protect their totemic habitats for the practice of their culture.”

According to Svea, the developer also fell short in its public consultation process, pushing it through during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Apart from a small newspaper advert, only 200 people were notified via letterbox drop. The public were denied the right to have their say. But we are now, as a community, speaking very loudly and clearly—it’s not ok.”

Developer refuses to self-refer

Understandably, the Save Wallum community also wants the development referred for assessment under the EPBC Act, and has contacted countless state and federal ministers asking them all to “call it in”.

“The developer has not self referred to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water [DCCEEW], despite the site being home to federally listed threatened species and their habitats, and we don’t have the ability to refer it under the current Act,” says Svea.

Save Wallum Incorporated made a submission to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Tanya Plibersek, at the end of 2023. It begins: “We refer to the Project, which has yet to be referred by Clarence Property to the Minister for a determination under s75(1) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as to whether the Project is a controlled action.

“Our view is that the Project is likely to have a significant impact on several species and species habitats listed under the EPBC Act, and impacts on those species must be properly assessed under the EPBC Act.”

To date, no direct response has been received. “We’ve mostly received feedback via media outlets reporting that Tanya [Plibersek] has said 'it is not something I can intervene in.'”

Wilderness Society NSW Campaigns Manager, Victoria Jack, says “The experience of community members raising concerns about the planned destruction at Wallum are indicative of the challenges faced by the public in exercising their right to a fair say in environmental decision-making. Federal nature laws rely predominantly on proponents to self-refer proposed projects for assessment—and if communities are aware of projects that should have been referred but were not, there is very little they can do about it. This is one of a range of community rights failings that must be fixed by the federal government if it is serious about its reforms restoring trust and integrity.”

You can read more at Save Wallum.