Bega Valley Shire Council discussed the zoning issue on July 20 and, as reported in the Magnet, councillors agreed to give Mr Lyon more time to seek advice from the planning department.

But Mr Lyon told the Magnet on Wednesday that before he received a response, council pushed through the matter with “undue haste”, before it went into caretaker mode ahead of the September 10 local government election.

“At the August 10 council meeting the recommendation went straight through, bang … they wouldn’t allow us to address the meeting, they said we’d had our opportunity,” he said.

“There is growing concern that people are not being made aware by council, or any other authority, that E2 and E3 zonings are being placed on their properties and that it is being carried out without consultation.”

Mr Lyon – the managing director of Lyon Group Australia which owns the Seahorse Inn – said the zonings would lock up 200 hectares of prime development land at Boydtown.

In March it was determined that in five Far North Coast councils – Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore and Tweed - E-zones could be applied only where justified; affected private landowners had to be notified of the proposed changes; and, landowners could seek an independent review. 

Mr Lyon said this had created one set of rules for people living on the north coast and another set for elsewhere in NSW, including the Bega Valley Shire. 

A Department of Planning spokesperson told the Magnet it was looking at whether the Far North Coast approach could be applied across NSW to give greater certainty to all stakeholders.

Mr Lyon wrote to Mr Stokes on October 4.