Mark Ellis

Save Our Suburbs (SOS) is nominating Mark Ellis for the seat of: Peats.

Mark is a horticulturist and has lived at Woy Woy most of his life.

SOS has been holding regular meetings on the Peninsula for the past two years.

"The most repeated message we get from our members and supporters is that the Central Coast has been overdeveloped and the scale and pace of this development has not been matched by infrastructure provision.

"The Carr government's policies of urban consolidation are destroying the coast lifestyle," said Mark Ellis.

"All residents should be alarmed by the Shaping the Central Coast Action Plan Version II.

"This document is fatally flawed, promising more of the same for the next 20 years, with no firm infrastructure commitments, no timeline and with no funding.

"The truth is we need now the resources that are being named in this document but that are not being provided.

"The State Government's Shaping the Central Coast public forums pay little more than lip service to the public consultation process.

"This plan has been in action for more than 12 months and prior to this round of discussions the public has been excluded or their submissions ignored," said Mr Ellis.

"The Central Coast has suffered enough from the past 10 years of unplanned and under-funded population growth.

"Lifestyle and environmental values are being compromised while the State's resources are spent on expanding roads and buckets of PR.

"The massive funding being spent on widening the F3 will be totally wasted when in a few years the increased population on the Coast are forced to travel to find work.

"SOS candidates will be proposing that the population capacity of the Central Coast has been reached and that most new development here is totally out of scale with this special place," said Tony Recsei, SOS leading candidate for the Legislative Council

"We believe the State has neither the money nor the will to provide for the infrastructure deficit on the Central Coast and only a vote for a sensible Save Our Suburbs candidate in both houses at the next election can make a difference.

"Our representation in parliament will counter the influence of developers.

"Developer links to the major parties, State bureaucracies and local government have allowed them to ride roughshod over local communities," said Dr Recsei

SOS will be holding public meetings at Umina Community Hall, Sydney Ave, on March 2 at 2pm and at Ettalong Progress Hall, Memorial Ave, on March 9 at 2pm.

Labour and Liberal candidates will be invited to debate the topic: "The Peninsula has reached its population capacity".

Press release, February 19