Fur flies on move decision

TWEED residents are barking mad at a council proposal to build an animal pound on a neighbouring block of land.

Homeowners at Eviron, 23 minutes southwest of Coolangatta, say their peaceful lifestyle will be drowned out by the constant sound of barking dogs echoing through the valley.

Gail Brancato lives about 400m from where the pound will be built.

“Can you imagine hearing dogs barking all the time?” she said. “We didn’t buy here to have the property next door our place turned into a pound.”

The Tweed Shire Council last week voted to rezone the property at 719 Eviron Rd so a pound could be built there.

The council has been buying land around the area for more than two decades as part of its plan to expand its current dump before it reached capacity.

As part of that plan, the pound at the Stotts Creek tip would be relocated over the hill on to Eviron Rd, opening up more room for the dump expansion.

Councillor Chris Cherry was the only councillor to vote against the rezoning, saying she wanted more time to look into the impact the pound would have on neighbours.

Council general manager Troy Green said the council did not have time to stall.

“We have to rehouse the existing pound (at Stotts Creek) within the next year,” he said.

“Given the trying China policy (not to accept recycling waste), we have a master plan for our waste site.’’

This meant expanding the tip to where the pound is.

Neighbour Vinnie Palmer said the pound was in the right spot now. “I am not keen on it, it is in a good spot where it is next to the tip,” he said.