In Brunswick Heads, a group of protesters gathered at the Wallum development site to prevent machinery from accessing the land for site works. The protest escalated as some demonstrators proceeded to chain themselves to mesh fencing and an excavator. The site's location within a coastal heathland area housing vulnerable wildlife species such as the glossy black cockatoo, koalas, and the Wallum sedge frog has raised concerns about the potential environmental impact of the housing development.
The project, which has been in planning since 2013, came under fire from protesters who argued that the approval process lacked thorough scrutiny, especially given its timing during the height of the COVID pandemic. Despite facing arrests and charges, protester Natalie Wilkinson expressed determination to continue her activism. Clarence Property Group, the entity behind the housing development, has approval to construct 124 houses on the 18-hectare site but has expressed willingness to consider a proposal from Byron Shire Council to reduce the housing footprint by incorporating more medium density dwellings, a decision the company's CEO, Simon Kennedy, acknowledged would pose challenges and incur costs.
Greens MP Sue Higginson criticized the political and legal systems, attributing the protest action to their failures. Higginson highlighted a recent letter from NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully declining to refer the development to the federal government for further consideration, signaling a sense of accountability on his part. Despite the arrests and tensions at the protest site, the police refrained from commenting on the situation.