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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
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;
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
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
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
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 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:
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
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
top
Comment on the ADI Site Regional Park Draft Plan of Management
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.
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
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.
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
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 Complaint lodged with ICAC - State and Local Government Committee ignoring Delfin Lend Lease jobs rort Check out these links
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
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
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
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, 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 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
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.
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
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 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.
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