But first it must be said that development and progress is generally good.

Our towns in the Bega Valley must grow if we are all to prosper.

There is so much about our corner of the world that is attractive to others and it would be churlish to keep it to ourselves.

By and large, there’s nothing wrong with big companies coming in and helping the locals.

Of course they’re in it for the money, but is that really a problem if it is all done in accordance with locals’ wishes?

After all, wouldn’t locals be in it for the same reason if they could?

However, all this must be done on our terms – or, if you like, the terms we, as a community, set for council to follow.

The Bermagui rezoning debate at council’s meeting this week raised more questions than it answered.

It appeared to an independent observer, there was no real understanding of what was happening.

There were a lot of ifs, buts and maybes.

The developer must have 30 per cent of Stage 1 done before it can move to Stage 2.

But no one could say what that meant.

Surely council should have that set in stone before a DA is entertained.

And why 30 per cent? Why not 50 per cent? That seems a more suitable figure.

And why has council not done a feasibility study to see if Bermagui can support the amount of people proposed to move to the town over the period of the development?

Bermagui, according to this development, will probably double in size in 20 years or thereabouts.

Will any other town in the Bega Valley do that?

Where are the people coming from?

What will they do when they get there?

What jobs will be created?

Do all young people leave the area because there are no jobs or because they want to see the world and spread their wings in careers that will never be available in Bermi or any other local town?

There will be answers to all these questions, of course, but have the answers really been considered properly?

There is middle ground in this debate.

No right-thinking person in Bermagui wants to stop progress.

There are none who think development and attracting business and people to the town is bad.

What most people don’t want is the scale of this proposal; they don’t want an extra 400 or so dwellings, especially as there are already hundreds of blocks of land for sale where building can take place.

What they don’t want is for the town to change its atmosphere and its look.

Surely there’s a compromise to be had.

Surely council won’t blindly give carte blanche to a developer without considering even the most obvious of questions.

Surely not.