Save western Sydney’s former ADI Site. Website of the ADI Residents Action Group

Latest Information & Media 
9th December 2008 Allan Shearan the local member for Londonderry's future may hang in the balance if he fails to fix up the planning debacle at the ADI Site
8th December 2008 ADI RAG submission to SREP 30 amendments - calls on Kristina Keneally the NSW Planning Minister to save another 100 ha of CPW
5th December 2008 Penrith Councillors are on the verge of making a monumental planning mistake which will condemn hundreds of hectares of Cumberland Plain Woodland to the bulldozer - Act now and contact these Councillors
5th December 2008 NSW Scientific Committee has made a determination to support a nomination to list Cumberland Plain Woodland as a Critically Endangered Ecological Community, which means it is likely to become extinct unless we stop its destruction
5th December 2008 Document reveals NSW Liberal Policy in 2007 was to save an extra 100 ha of the ADI Sites Western Precinct. Will Penrith Liberal Councillors renege on this commitment to Western Sydney?
October 2008 NSW Government uses taxpayers funds to promote the housing sales of Delfin Lend Lease
October 2008 Get your submissions in by November 17 2008 - Penrith Council Western and Central Precinct Plans (3420 houses) - Kristina Keneally NSW Planning Minister amending ADI Site rezoning plan
August 7 2008 ADI RAG Submission to Penrith Council - Delfin Lend Leases Bushfire Hazard Reduction Works DA
July 17 2008 Download the documents supporting Delfin Lend Leases Bushfire Hazard Reduction Works Development Application
July 13 2008 Delfin lodge DA with Penrith Council to clear 230 ha of Cumberland Plain Woodland
July 13 2008 Delfin Lend Lease preparing to lodge Western and Central Precinct Plans with Penrith Council
March 29 2007 Comment on the ADI Site Regional Park Draft Plan of Management
November 13 2006 NSW Government called on to end misery of ADI Kangaroos
November 13 2006 NSW Planning Minister approves Delfin Lend Lease request to declare all of ADI Site a Release Area.
September 14 2006 Save the Air Services Australia Site at Cranebrook Website
August 21 2006 Delfin Lend Lease seek to have all ADI Site Precincts declared Release Areas
July 27 2006 ICAC complaint lodged - State and Local Government comprised ADI Employment Strategy Committee ignoring jobs rort by developer
June 29 2006 Duelling feral proof fences - NSW Government now supports a feral proof fence around the Regional Park
May 22 2006 Latest Penrith Council Report claims ADI Site still contaminated
May 8 2006 NSW Government clears developer of mistreating Kangaroos - Hear radio interview
April 27 2006 More details of the inhumane treatment of the Kangaroos by Delfin Lend Lease emerge
April 21 2006 Lend Leases Kangaroo Management Plan - Animal Cruelty? - Images and Movies
April 7 2006 Frank Sartor approves amended SREP 30 zoning plan for ADI Site
November 23 2005 NSW Department of Planning puts amended ADI Site Plan out for public comment

 

 

Allan Shearan the Labor Member for Londonderry holds that seat by a mere 6.9% and he will need Greens preferences if he wants to hold his seat. The fate of Labor in holding power in NSW may come down to seats like Londonderry and on how Labor responds to fixing up conservation and planning debacles such as the ADI Site and Air Services Australia land at Cranebrook. It is known that the local NSW Greens have the protection of more Cumberland Plain Woodland at the ADI Site at the top of their local agenda. The Greens know that the current plan is a disaster and fractures the proposed Cumberland Conservation Corridor.

Contact Allan Shearan to tell him to act. CC your message to Kristina Keneally the Planning Minister

Allan Shearan
Kristina Keneally

 


ADI RAG submission to SREP 30 amendments
- calls on Kristina Keneally the NSW Planning Minister to save another 100 ha of CPW. Download here 700kb

 

Penrith Councillors will meet on Monday the 15th December and are being asked by their Planning staff to support recommendations to publicly exhibit the Penrith Planning Agreement which is a legally binding contract between Delfin Lend Lease and Penrith Council. The Agreement is tied to development of the Western and Central Precincts. These Precincts contain hundreds of hectares of Cumberland Plain Woodland that the NSW Scientific Committee may soon list as near extinction or Critically Endangered Ecological Community.

Penrith Council are acting recklessly in fast tracking these approvals. They are putting the cart before the horse and trying to lock in a development footprint before they have even voted to support the approval of the Precinct Plans.  They are moving ahead regardless of the fact the NSW Planning Minister is still considering public submissions to her amendments of SREP 30 which is the zoning plan for the ADI Site. The Planning Minister may in fact decide that more CPW needs to be saved. This would then make Penrith Council look very silly as they are also pre-empting the decision by the Planning Minister. A change in the size of the development by the Planning Minister will effectively void the Planning Agreement and Council would of squandered ratepayers funds on this folly. There has not been a report to Council about community opposition to Precinct Plans.

Councillors just need to be patient and defer this matter until next year and until the Planning Minister decides on the amendments to SREP 30. This gives Councillors time to review their support for these plans that destroy large areas of Cumberland Plain Woodland.

Please contact the below Penrith Councillors and urge them to do the right thing. They must make decisions that are in the public interest, not ones that suit the agenda of Delfin Lend Lease.

Cut and paste the below addresses straight into your email address line

jim@jimaitken.com.au; kathryn.presdee@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au; prue.guillaume@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au;
kaylene.allison@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au; john.thain@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au;
karen.mckeown@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au; greg.davies@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au;
ben.goldfinch@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au; marko.malkoc@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au;
tanya.davies@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au; robert.ardill@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au;
mark.davies@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au; ross@rossfowler.com.au; kevin.crameri@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au;
jackie.greenow@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au; astoneham@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au

 

Email   Phone
Mayor  Jim Aitken 0418288488
Kathryn Presdee Labor 0401 678 508
Prue Guillaume Labor 0401 678 520
Kaylene Allison Labor 0401 995 843
John Thain Labor 0411 427 812
Karen McKeown Labor 0401 995 945
Greg Davies Labor 0419 177 259
Ben Goldfinch Liberal 0401 678 509
Marko Malkoc Liberal 0401 678 512
Tanya Davies Liberal 0421 600 025
Robert Ardill Liberal 0401 678 505
Mark Davies Liberal 0416 085 597
Ross Fowler Liberal 0419 738 484
Kevin Crameri Independent 0401 995 825
Jackie Greenow Independent 9623 2366
Alan Stoneham General Manager 4732 7777
   

 

The NSW Scientific Committee has made a determination to support a nomination to list Cumberland Plain Woodland as a Critically Endangered Ecological Community. The Scientific Committee believes that CPW is likely to become extinct. One of the reasons it may become extinct is because Politicians make stupid decisions that are based solely on driving the economy.

The ADI Site contains one of the last great remnants of CPW. If Penrith Council and the Planning Minister do not intervene this remnant is going to be carved up and destroyed by the development of the Western and Central Precincts.

View the Scientific Committees determination here. You can lodge a submission in support of the listing. Details are at the website.

 

The NSW Liberals in early 2007 vowed to reduce development of the ADI Site Western Precinct by 100 ha. The Liberals said they would create a new green zone. See their commitment here

The NSW Liberals must stick to this commitment as it will protect 100 ha of Cumberland Plain Woodland. It will be a gross act of hypocrisy and a betrayal of Western Sydney if the Liberals renege on this commitment. The Liberal Councillors at Penrith must deliver on this commitment.

Contact the Liberal Councillors and the NSW Liberal leaders to urge them to do the right thing.

 

 

NSW Government uses taxpayers funds to promote the housing sales of Delfin Lend Lease

The National Parks Division of the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change has been caught out using taxpayers money to promote the housing sales of property developer Delfin Lend Lease. National Parks and Delfin Lend Lease co-funded advertising material promoting a public open day at the ADI Site Regional Park (Wianamatta Regional Park). However the promotional material was designed by the developer and was largely a promotion of the their housing development including contact information to their sales office. All the graphics were supplied by Delfin.

This is an obscene use of public money. The winners from this promotion were the developers who will profit at the expense of the taxpayer. The NSW Government has no reason at all to continue their relationship with Delfin Lend Lease. All the agreements have been signed to transfer the Regional Park land and its funding to the NSW Government. The Regional Park is public land and the NSW Government in no way should link this land to the developer. One can only surmise that this is a favour for mates of the NSW Government.

The NSW Greens have rightly demanded answers of Carmel Tebbutt, the NSW Environment Minister about this taxpayer funded rort.

See the promotional material here
See the Greens questions to Carmel Tebbutt here

 

Get your submissions in by November 17 2008 - Penrith Council Western and Central Precinct Plans (3420 houses) - Kristina Keneally NSW Planning Minister amending ADI Site rezoning plan

Follow this link to Penrith Councils website to view all the documents associated with Delfin Lend Leases Precinct Plans for the Western and Central Precincts of the ADI Site.

Follow this link to Planning NSW website to demand that more of the ADI Site be rezoned for conservation and that the Cumberland Conservation Conservation not be fractured by housing development. See media release about this here

 Comments to both Penrith Council and Planning NSW are due by the 17th November 2008

 

ADI RAG Submission to Penrith Council opposing Delfin Lend Lease Development Application to clear 200 hectares of Cumberland Plain Woodland as part of Bushfire Hazard Reduction Works within the Western Precinct

Download ADIRAG Bushfire DA submission 400 kb

 

Bushfire DA documents

These documents will assist you to make a submission to Penrith Council opposing the DA to clear vegetation from the Western Precinct. See below for more details how to make a submission

Bushfire Hazard Reduction Plan 2008 1.9 mb
Flora and Fauna Assessment 1.5 mb
Heritage Report 950kb

 

Delfin lodge DA with Penrith Council to clear 230 ha of Cumberland Plain Woodland

Delfin Lend Lease are seeking from Penrith Council approval for a development application for bushfire hazard reduction works within the Western Precinct of the ADI Site. The DA if approved by Penrith Council will mean Delfin will have permission to slash or clear nearly 230 ha of Cumberland Plain Woodland.

Delfin lodged a similar DA five years ago and we successfully opposed that DA resulting in the implementation of the current fire management system that is working. There has been no fires within the Western Precinct for many many years. Delfin are claiming the DA is necessary to protect from possible bushfire nearly 1000 sterilised Kangaroos that they have penned up within the Western Precinct.

The public can now comment on the DA08/0613 Bushfire Hazard Reduction Works ADI Site Western Precinct DA08/0613. The Officer handling the DA is Deepa Randhawa. Below are email addresses and Deepa's phone number. You should also send emails to all Penrith Councillors opposing this DA.

drandhawa@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au
pencit@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au 
Phone 4732 7522

If you want to see the DA you need to go to the Penrith Council Chambers. Penrith Council has decided not to put any of the DA documents on their website. They have not indicated that they will have a public meeting either.

The information below may help you with your comments. It was an email sent to Deepa Randhawa by the Western Sydney Conservation Alliance. Make sure you remind Penrith Council that - as this DA proposes the clearing of Cumberland Plain Woodland - this DA needs to be referred to Peter Garrett the Federal Environment Minister for compliance with the Federal Government EPBC Act. Typically the NSW Governments Dept of Environment and Climate Change have supported the DA.

 

I request further information about the bushfire hazard reduction works for the ADI Site Western Precinct DA08/0613. Could you urgently provide to WSCA a copy of all of the exhibited DA documents?

 
In addition could you provide the following information:
  • Details of the current bushfire hazard reduction regime e.g. The SAFZ's that are currently implemented within the Western Precinct. A map would be of assistance
  • The incidence of fire within the Western Precinct prior to the lodgement of this DA  Has the current management plan succeeded in preventing fires within the Western Precinct
  • The extent of Cumberland Plain Woodland, threatened, vulnerable and regionally significant species found across the Western Precinct. This would need to be assessed by an independent ecological consultant. Delfins data appears to be seriously out dated and flawed.
    • Reference should be made to the Xavier College Land and Environment Court decision that found CPW existed on that school site despite evidence by Lend Lease and the Catholic Education Office (David Robertson of Cumberland Ecology - who has provided the statement of environmental effects for this DA - represented the Catholic Education Office and Lend Lease). The judge dismissed this evidence and found that this area of the ADI Site was in fact Cumberland Plain Woodland. This legal precedent therefore applies to the rest of the Western Precinct.
  • Whether this plan needs to be referred to the Federal Environment Minister for approval under the EPBC Act
  • The number of trees likely to be removed as a result of approval of the DA
    •  (http://203.221.255.16/index.asp?id=606 Interpretation: 6. In this Order, except in so far as the context or subject or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires: Council means the Council of the City of Penrith. Tree means a perennial plant with self-supporting stem which: (a) Has a girth of 30cm or more, measured at a distance of 40cm above the ground; and (b) Has a height in excess of 3m.
  • The total area of the Western Precinct to be cleared to 10cm
  • What methods are proposed to reduce vegetation to 10cm e.g. Bulldozer, tree loppers, slasher etc.
  • The potential climate change impacts resulting from the proposed clearing e.g. the amount of green house gases to be generated as a result of this DA
  • The number of Kangaroos Delfin are holding in enclosures within the Western Precinct
  • The fuel load within these enclosures
  • The potential reduction in fuel load within the Western Precinct should Delfin release the Kangaroos from the enclosures
  • Seek from Delfin clarification as to the number of Pimelea spicata located within the Western Precinct. They claim only two, yet on a site tour that I was on with Delfin and DECC - which we inspected the Western Precinct population -that number was much greater. I have video evidence of this.
  • Seek clarification from Delfin as to the evidence of the presence of Koalas on the site. On a site tour with Delfin and DECC that I was on Ray Giddins the then DEC Threatened Species Officer collected a sample of scat that was later proven to belong to a Koala. This year Jonathon Sanders stated to me in a phone conversation that recent fauna studies on the ADI Site found Koala hair in the scat of a fox. There has been no specific search for Koalas on the site. There have been numerous sightings by former ADI staff and the public over the years.
  • How approval of the DA would impact the formation of the Cumberland Conservation Corridor which seeks to link the North West part of the Regional Park to a bushland corridor identified by Councils City Wide LEP. Is there potential for this area - zoned urban - to be rezoned to Regional Park so that the CCC can continue to the North West boundary fence of the ADI Site. Council needs to be cognisant of how this DA would be inconsistent with any broader conservation planning for the Penrith LGA and the precedent this DA may set for land clearing by other land owners in the Penrith LGA that have significant areas of natural vegetation within their properties.
Further, I request WSCA be invited to meet with Council Officers prior to determination to discuss this matter further and that Council organise with Delfin for a site tour - which includes WSCA - so that we can view the on ground proposal, the extent of regeneration of CPW within the Western Precinct and the alleged threat that fire may have on the Kangaroos and the Regional Park.
 
Regards,
 
Geoff Brown

 

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Delfin Lend Lease preparing to lodge Western and Central Precinct Plans with Penrith Council

Delfin Lend Lease is preparing to lodge Precinct Plans for the Western and Central Precincts (suburbs) with Penrith Council. This translates to seeking approval to build 3500 houses. Delfin Lend Lease Public Relations exercise has started and they held a poorly attended community consultation meeting at Cranebrook Neighbourhood Centre on the 1st July 2008. There was nothing put in the local papers about this meeting and only some areas received Delfins talk St Marys flyer in their mailbox. Penrith Council never promoted this event either even though Council Officers were there to assist Delfin Lend Lease with their public relations exercise. Both Council and Delfin are flying under the radar trying there best to get through this with little public scrutiny

Development within the 230 ha Western Precinct will result in the loss of Cumberland Plain Woodland from nearly the entire area.

For details on the Precinct Plans see Delfins website
www.talkstmarys.com.au/talkstmarys/main.nsf/consult.html

 

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Comment on the ADI Site Regional Park Draft Plan of Management


The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has at last put the Draft Plan of Management for the ADI Site Regional Park out for public comment. The proposed name is the Wianamatta Regional Park.

 

Here is the link to the NPWS website to view the PoM and also details of how to make a comment on the plan. Comments must be received by 1 July 2007.

 

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Dogs maul Kangaroos at ADI Site. Residents want Kangaroo suffering to end now. 

Residents in Western Sydney are calling on the NSW Government to immediately address the suffering of Kangaroos at the St Marys ADI Site following the revelation that 15 Kangaroos died after being mauled by dogs there last week. How the dogs gained access to the Kangaroos, which were being kept in a holding yard by the sites developer Delfin Lend Lease, is unknown but human intervention is highly probable. 

Lend Leases sterilisation program involves herding the roos into compounds, then being darted with a tranquiliser, then operated on and sterilised then released with open wounds into holding yards to live out their lives. Some roos may be released into the proposed Regional Park 

“This case again highlights the failure of the developer’s massive sterilisation program and residents are now calling on Bob Debus, the Environment Minister, to step in and relieve the suffering of the Kangaroos”. Said, Geoff Brown, spokesperson for ADI RAG.  

“It is time for the NSW Government to admit this sterilisation experiment that they approved has failed and can never be implemented humanely. We don’t want anymore Kangaroos needlessly subjected to surgical sterilisation. If they are going to dart them with a tranquiliser then the most humane thing to do is then euthanase them on the spot, no one wants them subjected to further misery which is what will happen under this current plan. Bob Debus needs to decide how many roos he intends to keep within his proposed Regional Park and then quickly deal with the remainder.” 

“This dog attack is only the latest example of the failure of the sterilisation plan. Holding large numbers of roos in a confined pen was a disaster waiting to happen. The RSPCA should once again be investigating Delfin Lend Lease and if there was human involvement in allowing the dogs to attack the roos then these people should be found and dealt with by the law.” 

“We understand that the RSPCA and WIRES have similar concerns to us about Delfin Lend Leases disastrous Macrofauna Plan and have made them known to Bob Debus.”

 

Surgically sterilised female Eastern Grey Kangaroo - dirty wound dressing still attached

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NSW Planning Minister approves Delfin Lend Lease request to declare all of ADI Site a Release Area.

Arthur Ilias of Delfin Lend Lease revealed that Frank Sartor, the NSW Planning Minister, has approved a request by the developer that all remaining development precincts on the ADI Site be declared Release Areas.

The original plan by the NSW Government was that precinct releases would be staged and that DLL would have had to have proved that their previous precinct developments had met all the performance objectives outlined in SREP 30, EPS 2000 and the St Marys Development Agreement before any further precincts were approved to be released for development.

Frank Sartors approval means that the NSW Government is no longer interested in knowing if the development is up to scratch and simply wants to fast track the release of land in Western Sydney.

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Save Cranebrook Site

A website is up and running covering the latest environmental battle in Western Sydney that being the rezoning application of IFC Capital Ltd to allow development of the 181-hectare former Air Services Australia Site at the Northern Rd Cranebrook.

IFC have been collaborating with Penrith City Council Planners for over a year to get their rezoning application ready and they have recently lodged the application with Council. The Cranebrook site is very significant land and the campaign is calling on Council to reject IFC's rezoning application and instead zone the site for conservation. The land should be acquired by the State Government, using the $315 million Growth Centres Conservation Fund, and put into the hands of the Department of Environment and Conservation so that it can be properly managed as some type of Park.

Visit the Save Cranebrook Website here

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Delfin Lend Lease call on NSW Planning Minister to declare remaining ADI Site Precincts Release Areas 

A Penrith Council Report on the 24th July 2006 has revealed that Delfin Lend Lease has written to Frank Sartor the NSW Minister for Planning in March 2006 seeking that he declare all remaining Precincts within the Blacktown and Penrith Local Government Areas as Release Areas.

If the Minister does this then Delfin Lend Lease can then proceed to lodge Precinct Plans with Penrith and Blacktown Councils at will. They will likely push forward to try to fast track the development of the 230 hectare Western Precinct which borders the Northern Rd at Cranebrook. Development of the Western Precinct will threaten 230 hectares of regenerating Cumberland Plain Woodland, an Endangered Ecological Community listed at State and National levels. Development of this Precinct will mean that the public will no longer be able to see the wild Kangaroos and Emus from the Northern Rd. 

Penrith Council, predictably, decided at it July 24 Meeting to support Delfin Lend Lease in its decision to have all precincts declared Release Areas. Council put together a lengthy Report which is quite useful as it has a timeline of Delfin Lend Leases development approval process and discusses - from a pro development perspective - a range of other issues such as job creation etc. 

Follow this link 24 July 2006 - Penrith Council Policy Review Committee Meeting Report.pdf 240kb

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Complaint lodged with ICAC - State and Local Government Committee ignoring Delfin Lend Lease jobs rort

Check out these links

ICAC complaint - 4th July 2006 - St Marys EDS Committee.pdf
14 July 2006 - Letter to Frank Sartor - ICAC complaint - St Marys EDS Committee.pdf

NSW Government complicit in developers dodgy job figures

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ADI Site Regional Park feral proof fence back on the agenda.

ADI RAG lobbied Jackie Kelly in the lead up to the 2004 Election for funding to assist in protecting the ADI Sites conservation values. She agreed that there should be adequate protection for the flora and fauna spared from development and committed to provide $1.1 million for a feral/vermin proof fence around the Regional Park. 

Little did we know that at the same time the NPWS was organising their own fence around the Regional Park. Their fence appears to be linked to the Macro Fauna Management Plan and is being funded by Delfin Lend Lease. It appears this fence is primarily for the purpose of keeping the Kangaroos out of the Regional Park. So this explains why they rejected Jackie Kelly's$1.1million offer. The little info we have about the NPWS fence is that construction is underway on part of the site and it is very much a vermin proof style fence with a floppy top and can flex (absorb an impact) if hit by a Kangaroo. We doubt very much if this fence will be a permanent fixture considering the Macro Fauna Plan only has a limited life (finished once the Kangaroo numbers have been cut to nothing). 

NPWS ridiculed the vermin proof fence in 2004 claiming it would block wildlife movements across the site. They even used Koalas as an example of an affected species yet earlier that year they were arguing that there were no Koalas in this area. 

The story below from the Western Weekender (30/6/06) adds to all this confusion by concluding with a statement by Alan Shearan, the ALP State Member for Londonderry, that the NSW Government now supports the construction of the fence. So now we have duelling fences. This reads as if the State has jumped on board with Jackie Kelly but it is more a case that Alan Shearan is only now announcing the NPWS fence that has been a secret for several years. They are even flogging our original suggestions that proper feral proof fencing enables the reintroduction of some fauna species to the site. 

We do need to find out from the NSW Government exactly what is going on with this fence. If you are up to it please write or phone Alan Shearan or Bob Debus. If this fence has nothing to do with Jackie Kelly's $1.1 million then we need to get the Feds to spend that money on another conservation initiative in Western Sydney.

 

Source: Western Weekender

ADI RAG members witness the signed $1.1 million fencing commitment by Jackie Kelly

Jackie Kellys 2004 election commitment letter.pdf 48kb

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Latest Penrith Council Report raises more questions about ADI Site development 

Penrith Councillors were presented with a report about the status of the 30.3 ha Dunheved Employment Precinct at its Policy Review Committee meeting held on Monday the 22nd of May 2006.

The Report was very interesting in regards to claims that Penrith Councils legal advisors claimed that the Federal Government appears to be saying that the ADI Site is still contaminated. Also, it reveals that Council intends to enter into separate deals with Lend Lease to build a possible link road from the Dunheved Precinct to Dunheved Rd. Also that Council may sell off some of its land holdings in that area to raise the revenue to fund this link rd and to further development in the Dunheved area.

Below is a link to a copy of the Council Report and a letter sent to the Mayor and Councilors seeking further explanation of some of the matters raised in the Report.

Penrith Council Report 22 May 2006 - ADI Dunheved Precinct.pdf 320kb

26 May 2006 - Letter to PCC mayor and Clrs.pdf 9kb

 

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Business as usual at ADI Site - NPWS Kangaroo cruelty investigation clears developer

A group of journalism students from the University of Western Sydney have stolen the march on the Sydney media to reveal that the NSW Government has no real concerns over Delfin Lend Leases treatment of the Kangaroos at the ADI Site. The students revealed on their news program that the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service met with Delfin Lend Lease on Monday the 1st of May 2006 to investigate allegations that their population reduction  program - sterilisation of the Kangaroos - was inhumane. NPWS spoke with the developers veterinarian and inspected Kangaroo enclosures on the site. 

We knew that this closed door investigation would be a farce and that Delfin Lend Lease would only get a slap on the wrist from the Government. From the interview NPWS appear to be only concerned with stopping Kangaroos escaping from the enclosures. None of the serious issues raised below appear to have been considered. 

It doesn't take Einstein to work out that Delfin Lend Lease would have gone around the place and cleaned up the evidence (below) prior to the NPWS visit. 

  Hear the interview here 120kb mp3

 

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More evidence proving we need to stop Delfin Lend Leases inhumane sterilisation of the Kangaroos at the ADI Site

See the latest video footage showing the inhumane treatment of ADI Site Kangaroos here

We again visited the ADI Site and have gathered further evidence that Delfin Lend Leases Macrofauna Management Plan - a plan to drastically reduce the number of roos on the site so that urban development can proceed- is an absolute failure and is grossly inhumane.

We have had correspondence from and spoken to ex staff of Delfin Lend Lease that have revealed information about what is going on out of site of the public.

We saw post operation holding yards littered with carcasses and bones, faeces littering the yards, faeces in feed tins and amongst feed on the ground, inadequate fencing and parched dry paddocks. We saw one male roo dying before our eyes, stuck within a thicket of Blackberry

Below is correspondence received from an ex Delfin Lend Lease employee refuting the claim by DLL that the Macrofauna Management Plan is being humanely implemented. It appears to justify the arguments we have been putting to Bob Debus, the NSW Environment Minister, since August 2005.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I was recently employed as a veterinary nurse/kangaroo management officer at the ADI site in St Marys.  I thought that i would be working in an environment exhibiting the humane treatment and capture of kangaroos, with a humane goal in the future. However, after a few days i realised that this was not the case. Let me tell you a few things i observed in the week that i was working with the management team, and these figures are fairly conservative:

- 75% of captured females had pouch young which were taken off the teat forcefully, if they didnt release the teat they were euthanised and then removed. All hairless joeys were euthanised regardless of size. Given the season, the amount of pouch young encountered was high. 
- I saw in a recent newspaper article that post capture myopathy estimates were approximately 5%. From what i saw it was at least 10-15% (which doesnt include the euthanasing of joeys), I witnessed broken necks from inadequate capture cages, kangaroos trying to jump over large fences and getting caught, broken bones from poor darting ability which resulted in euthanasia of the kangaroos, kangaroos dropping when darts hit them from stress, drowning of released kangaroos, lack of food in overpopulated release area meant 2-5 kangaroo carcasses were found each day, blackberry bushes in release area catching many kangaroos which bled to death from the thorns (when suggested the bushes be removed i was told they wouldnt be).

It seemed that every simple question asked about improving the welfare of the captured and released animals was too complicated as i rarely received an answer. I dont regret leaving. I have worked with kangaroos and love them as much as i love my own pets. I believe that the overseer (delfin lend lease) has requested that the kangaroos be treated as poorly as possible so as to  maximise the reduction in kangaroo populations.

What is going on there is terrible, and many animals are suffering unnecessarily for the sake of profit. Personally i think that kangaroos are very prone to stress myopathy and there cant be any guarantee that each kangaroo capture will go the same. Kangaroos are very prone to heat stress (as you would know), and i did have a conversation with a few workers regarding work through the summer. They said that many more kangaroos were dying due to the heat, regardless of time of day. From the lend lease guide to kangaroo capture, it is stressed that capture activities should be conducted during the early hours of the morning when temperatures are around 20 degrees C or below. Clearly during summer the morning temperatures would have been significantly higher than this. I was working in conditions where the temperatures rose to around 30-35C degrees C about 1-2 months ago at around lunchtime (12 noon). I also expressed this concern when i quit.

Anyone upset about this issue should phone the office of Bob Debus the Environment Minister to find out why he is not sticking to his commitment - that this process would be humane.

Phone (02) 9228 3071
Fax (02) 9228 3166

bob.debus@debus.minister.nsw.gov.au

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ADI RAG recently visited the ADI Site and found a dead female Kangaroo, drowned in a pond, with a tranquiliser dart still in it. 

Download movie footage of the Kangaroo find here 2.1mb right click mouse and choose: save target as

The horror stories we have been hearing about Delfin Lend Leases implementation of its Macrofauna Management Plan appear to be true following the discovery of a deceased Kangaroo within the Western Precinct (Penrith LGA) of the ADI Site.

The Roo had drowned in a large dam and had suffered head injuries, probably as a result of ramming fences in its attempt to escape from Lend Leases people that were darting the roos for sterilisation.

This animal suffered an horrific death and anywhere else where an animal was chased down, shot and then left to die in agony would have been a gross act of animal cruelty.

Anyone upset about this issue should phone the office of Bob Debus the Environment Minister to find out why he is not sticking to his commitment - that this process would be humane.

Phone (02) 9228 3071
Fax (02) 9228 3166

bob.debus@debus.minister.nsw.gov.au

 

 

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Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, approves amended ADI Plan. State Government spin machine trumpets environmental win for Western Sydney residents 

More than 300 hectares of rare Cumberland Plain vegetation faces the bulldozer following the decision by NSW Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, to gazette an amended zoning plan  for the ADI Site (SREP 30). See amended zoning map here

The Minister received many submissions calling on him to exercise his planning powers to protect this vegetation. Follow this link to see ADI RAG's submission - 3.12 Mb

Read our latest Media Release about this announcement

Below is the spin from the NSW Government courtesy of Diane Beamer.

 

DIANE BEAMER

MINISTER FOR FAIR TRADING, MINISTER FOR WESTERN SYDNEY

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMMERCE

MEMBER FOR MULGOA

7 April 06

secret garden added to regional park

 

The Minister for Western Sydney, Diane Beamer, announced today the wetland area known as the “secret garden” is now formally included in the 900-hectare regional park on the former ADI site at St Marys.

 

Ms Beamer said the “secret garden” in the site now known as Ropes Crossing, covers three hectares, including a man-made watering hole that provides habitat for local wildlife.

 

“Many residents were keen to see this special place protected, and the best way of doing that was to include it in the regional park zone,” Ms Beamer said.

 

The amendment to Sydney Regional Environmental Plan 30 was approved by Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, and gazetted this week.

 

“The amendment expands the park by 270 hectares to a total 900 hectares, which goes a long way towards addressing many concerns raised in submissions,” Ms Beamer said.

 

“It significantly reduces the amount of urban development possible on the site, conserves more vegetation and strikes a better balance between urban and conservation outcomes.”

 

More than half the 1545-hectare site is now protected from future development by proper zoning and land use controls.

 

“Londonderry MP, Allan Shearan and I have always pushed to conserve all parts of the site that are on the Register of the National Estate, along with many other areas we considered worthy of protection.”

 

“Given its proximity to urban areas, the secret garden will need to have special management measures in place covering issues including stormwater management, safety and habitat protection.

 

“I am advised these issues will be subject to further analysis during detailed precinct planning.” Ms Beamer said.

 

Mr Shearan said the addition of the secret garden into the regional park was an excellent outcome for the local community.

 

“Many people, including the local residents action group, have lobbied strongly to ensure Ropes Crossing has a significant regional park. The secret garden is now firmly part of that achievement.”

 

Media contact:  Adrienne Riddell on 0407 947 860

 

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NSW Department of Planning puts amended ADI Site Plan out for public comment

After years of procrastinating the NSW Government has finally decided to publicly exhibit draft amendments to the Planning Instrument for the ADI Site, Sydney Regional Environmental Plan 30 St Marys (SREP 30). The amended plan is nothing new and reflects a commitment made by the Joint Venture (Lend Lease and the Federal Government) in 2002 that all National Estate listed parts of the site would be conserved in a 900 hectare Regional Park.

But the NSW Government spin machine is claiming it is they that are the saviours of this land and it is an act of good will by them that is gifting more open space to Western Sydney. The truth is that the plan that is being amended belongs to the NSW Government and it allowed 270 hectares of the National Estate and hundreds of hectares of Endangered Ecological Communities in unlisted areas of the site to be bulldozed. They have been dragged kicking and screaming to this position and it is all thanks to the fight put up by us the local residents. The NSW Government was still trying to reduce the Regional Park down to 850 hectares only a few months ago. ADI RAG lobbied DIPNR and DEC for several months leading up to these amendments. They have ignored most of our concerns but have finally realised that the public will not accept a Regional Park of less than 900 hectares.

Below is Frank Sartor's Media Release on the amended plan. It is amazing how they spin this stuff to make them look good.

Media Release - Minister's Office
Sydney: 25 November 2005

REGIONAL PARK AT ST MARYS TO GROW BY 270 HECTARES

The State Government has taken steps to expand a new regional park on the former ADI site in Western Sydney, Planning Minister Frank Sartor announced today.
Mr Sartor said the proposal to expand the St Marys park is now on exhibition for public comment.
“Under this proposal, the park will grow in size from 630 to 900 hectares – an increase of more than 40 per cent,” Mr Sartor said.
“The additional area will be rezoned from urban and employment uses to regional park, giving residents of Western Sydney more room to move.
“The expansion of the park will protect an extra 270 hectares of valuable Cumberland Plain Woodland listed on the Register of the National Estate.”
The 900-hectare park is a major addition to open space in Western Sydney, along with the 5,500 hectare Western Sydney Parklands stretching from Liverpool to Blacktown.
The amendment to Sydney Regional Environmental Plan 30 (SREP 30) will also reduce the site’s development potential from 8,000 to less than 5,000 dwellings.
SREP 30 was gazetted by the NSW Government in January 2001, zoning the site for regional park, regional open space, employment and urban development.
“We are committed to delivering a balanced outcome for this land, and have undertaken comprehensive environmental studies to guide the establishment of this sanctuary for the area’s fauna and flora,” Mr Sartor said.
The draft amendment will be on exhibition until December 21 at Penrith Council, St Marys Library, Blacktown Council, Blacktown Council’s Max Webber Library, the Department of Planning’s office at Parramatta, and the Department of Planning’s city office. 

 

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