Council fails in duty of stewardship

There was no compelling argument for the rezoning of five residential blocks for McDonalds at Umina.

With projected population growth on the Coast, more suitable cleared blocks were available at the other end of Umina shopping strip.

Council minutes of a year ago stated: "The applicant(s) be required to flag the trees on site that are to be removed."

Well now there is not a shrub left standing.

Did McDonalds make an 80s-style pre-emptive strike during the Christmas holidays or do Council environmental laws not apply to General Business?

The trees fronting these blocks were the tallest on Ocean Beach Rd.

As residential blocks, an Arboriculture Impact Assessment would have been required to establish danger or disease before a finger could be laid on a single tree.

Having now established a precedent for Ocean Beach Rd to become another Parramatta Rd, Council statements considering a median strip screen and acoustic fence are somewhat lame and ironic.

McDonalds exploited the Council Election and the new Council has failed in its duty of stewardship, meekly indicating their hands were tied by the decision of the previous Council.

As spokesperson for the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, Matthew Wales has been the main propagandist for this project.

The bomb site displays the sign: "Another planning project by Wales and Associates."

Isn't this a conflict of interest?

Email, 31 Jan 2013

Anthony Shannon, Umina