Three of the worst crazy Greens policies blocked in Ballina this year

Most people I talk to like the idea of keeping politics out of local government and Ballina Shire is mostly made up of independent councillors who aren’t members of political parties.  We do however have a rump of Greens Party-aligned councillors who are passionate about the environment and are wonderful advocates for our community.

Sometimes however the policies they pursue sound-well meaning, but can have serious consequences.

Here are three of the worst I’ve seen in my first six months on council.

1  Stopping the Greens coming after your home

For years the Greens have blocked new housing developments in our region which has contributed to a serious housing shortage.  Now the Greens party wants to try and fix the problem it helped create by placing onerous restrictions on holiday rental providers, loading them up with regulations to effectively try to force them to give their homes to long-term renters.

Byron Shire has already gone down this path, but thankfully a foreshadowed move by the Ballina Greens to copy the Byron regulations was headed off at our most recent meeting.  I argued the restrictions could exacerbate the housing shortage, with rental providers simply choosing to leave properties empty and charge more in the periods when they would be allowed to rent.  The Lennox Head Chamber of Commerce argued more restrictions on top of those recently introduced by the NSW Government could devastate our tourism industry.

2 Ending subsidies for so-called “Green” banks

Council recently voted on a change to its investment policy, overturning a previous policy which allowed for sub-standard investments in financial institutions describing themselves as “green”.

The so-called “green” banks included the Queensland-based Suncorp bank that closed its Ballina branch last year and proudly declares it will keep investing in coal and gas projects for the foreseeable future.

The policy change, which I was proud to move, could save Ballina ratepayers anywhere between $9000 and $50,000 annually, according to council estimates.  It brings Ballina Shire’s investment policy into line with other NSW councils and meets our legal obligation to make the best returns when investing ratepayers’ money.

Council still favors investments that help save the planet, only now we’ll no longer support those banks not generating the best possible returns.  In fact some of the best returns can now be earned in “green” funds and more than 60 per cent of Ballina’s financial reserves are held by such institutions.

3 Keeping Ballina out of the bowser business

Is an Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station any more beautiful than an old-fashioned petrol bowser?  That was a question raised at our most recent council meeting, with the Greens advocating Ballina Shire council use ratepayer’s money (along with trying to access State funds) to subsidise the roll-out of EV charging stations.  Once again the move was defeated, after it was pointed out the private sector is already building accessible EV charging points  in our region and the ones that are there are very rarely used.

Getting into the electric bowser business is a risk and a cost Ballina Shire simply cannot afford.