| Letter to John Thain |
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Cut and paste the letter
below into an email and send it to Mayor John Thain at the below email
address. Help get Penrith Council off its backside.
Councillor
John Thain Mayor Name
Address
Suburb
PC
..
No to further development
of the ADI Site Dear
Mayor Thain, As a ratepayer and resident of
the City of Penrith I write to express a series of concerns I have with
Councils support for the development of the ADI Site. Section 8
of the Local Government Act 1993 details a Charter for Councils. I believe
that significant points of this Charter have been tossed aside by Council
in supporting Delfin Lend Leases development. For example Council has the
Charter: to properly manage, develop, protect, restore, enhance and
conserve the environment of the area for which it is responsible, in a
manner that is consistent with and promotes the principles of ecologically
sustainable development; to have regard to the long term and cumulative
effects of its decisions; to keep the local community and the State
government (and through it, the wider community) informed about its
activities and; to exercise community leadership. Section
232 of the Local Government Act states that the role of a Councillor as an
elected person is to: represent the interest of the residents and
ratepayers; provide leadership and guidance to the community and
facilitate communication between the community and the Council. In
relation to the development of the ADI Site I believe this Council and the
majority of its Councillors have failed to uphold their Charter and fulfil
their elected role. Your Council Charter directs you to protect the
environment of your city yet you openly support a development plan that
allows over 300 hectares of endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland within
the Penrith LGA to be bulldozed. How is supporting the bulldozing of rare
bushland consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable
development? Recently
I was appalled that a majority of Councillors voted to reject supporting a
National Heritage listing of the Western Precinct of the ADI Site, an
initiative to protect a further 230ha of rare Cumberland Plain Woodland
and a place of great aesthetic value to residents. Why? Because it would
have jeopardised the promised funding commitment from developer, Delfin
Lend Lease. It is a
disgrace that this Council has sold its soul and considers a monetary
contribution from a developer more important than the protection of the
natural environment. Why was I not consulted before Council made this
decision? It has
now come to my attention that Council will soon be entering into, on
behalf of ratepayers, a series of legally binding Development Agreements
with Delfin Lend Lease. What guarantee do you give ratepayers that Council
will not be entering into a contract it cannot get out of without using
ratepayers money to compensate the developer? Mayor please acknowledge the following:
Yours
truly,
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