Mayor asleep while development proposed for bushland

Our full-time mayor is asleep at the wheel again.

At the most recent Council meeting, Council adopted a list of 23 vegetation communities as "regionally significant" but failed to identify the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland as "significant", despite the fact that it is listed by the state as endangered (Endangered bushland is not 'significant' to Council, Peninsula News Edition 440, March 12).

The mayor then states that she "would like it to be included", which is typical of a mayor who "likes" and "thinks" but doesn't actually seem to get anything "done".

If she wanted it included, why didn't she say so when the matter was before Council: a simple amendment would have done the trick.

A more suspicious person than I might conjecture that the omission has something to do with the development application now before Council for a nursing home on the site against which our Australia Day award winner, Mr Norm Harris, has lodged an objection (Award recipient objects to nursing home, PN 440).

I believe that a previous application on this site was the subject of multiple objections and was eventually refused, but the developer has doggedly returned with a new application, perhaps in the belief (probably well-founded) that the community will get tired of objecting and that he will eventually get his way.

This is how the application system usually works.

I think that Mr Harris is probably all too correct in predicting that the proposed development will result in the destruction of the endangered bushland, no matter what conditions Council might purport to attach to an approval.

So, here is an opportunity for two councillors to use the prerogative, so warmly supported by Mr Matthew Wales, of bringing the matter before council for determination.

Possibly, the Mayor and Cr Mehrtens who express such concern over the endangered bushland could take this initiative.

In the meantime, it is to be hoped that many other objections will be lodged, although the probability of the number reaching 50 is remote, this will doubtless be a matter of satisfaction to Mr Wales and Crs Best, Pilon, Marquart, McLachlan and Collins, if not to the community at large.

Email, 12 Mar 2018

Bruce Hyland, Woy Woy