Building heights were not an issue

Regarding "Height Controls Removed" (Forum, September 19), once again Mr. Bryan Ellis doesn't let the truth get in the way of good story.

As a former Gosford councillor, let me enlighten Mr Ellis as to what actually happened rather than the sanitized version he dishes up for the media.

The Urban Design Framework workshops were conducted by Sydney consultant Brett Newbold in preparation for Gosford Council's draft Character Development Control Plan (DCP) for the Peninsula area.

I attended these meetings and I can categorically confirm that building heights were never discussed at any of those meetings, nor was it an issue.

The draft character statements were then placed on public exhibition for comment and, again, height was never an issue in the submissions returned to Council.

In relation to Ettalong Beach and Umina Beach, the full report came to Council for ratification on March 26, 2002.

It was at this council meeting that several councillors decided to change the character statements of their own accord.

These changes were quite dramatic and included the statement that "the height of buildings should vary up to three storey in appearance" and deleted the words "penthouse" to be replaced with "top storey".

These changes were supported by eight of the councillors.

However, former Cr Tony Sansom and I voted against the changes as it was our view that such major alterations should have gone back out onto public exhibition for comment and these views were never expressed during the earlier consultation process.

So when Mr. Ellis talks about abuse of powers, it was on that night that we witnessed it first hand how Council fails to listen to the community but we didn't hear a word from Mr. Ellis then.

I congratulate both Cr Maher and Hale for having corrected the character statements so that they now actually reflect what the community workshops wanted at the time.

Debra Wales, Umina