Jerrinja LALC has been active in campaigning against Zombie DAs, historical development consents that were granted consent years if not decades ago.
This is due to their impact on the cultural and ecological values of our land and sea Country, as these consents were subject to planning regulations of the time which may not have taken those values into account - much less the impacts of climate change, and of the Black Summer bushfires.
We commend Cate Faerhmann MLC for drawing attention to the issue of Zombie DAs on Jerrinja Country via the Concreting the Coast campaign.
We were also pleased to see the NSW Government engage with this issue via two separate Parliamentary Inquiries:
In 2024, the NSW Legislative Council Planning and Environment Portfolio Committee held an inquiry into the Planning system and the impacts of climate change on the environment and communities. Our CEO Alfred Wellington escorted Committee members on a site visit to Jerrinja Country in May 2024 to show them firsthand what impact Zombie DAs and other inappropriate developments and planning proposals would have. A download of our submission to this inquiry is available below.
Our CEO also participated in a community roundtable held in Nowra in September 2024 as part of an Inquiry on Historical DAs being held by the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Environment and Planning. This inquiry is ongoing as at May 2025.
