Note: Due to lobbying by ADI RAG and others we managed to get the NSW Government to finally commit to accepting the full 900 hectares (2006). The information below tells the tale of the struggle to get that minimal commitment  

Click on map to see enlargement. 

On March 15 2005, Jonathon Sanders, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Cumberland North Manager, informed the Community Reference Group assisting the NPWS to develop a Plan of Management for the ADI Site Regional Park, of proposals by the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation as to how much of the Regional Park they want to manage and what types of recreational uses they consider appropriate within the Regional Park.

DEC proposes to excise 35 ha of land listed in the Register of the National Estate from the Regional Park reducing it from 900 ha to 865 ha. Also, to provide recreational opportunities in the conservation area for walking, cycling and picnic areas. See the following NSW NPWS documents Residual National Estate.pdf 971kb, and Regional Park - Recreation.pdf 461kb, for details of their preferred management options.

These announcements by DEC have been eagerly awaited and finally confirm what we have suspected all along; that they failed to get enough funding out of Lend Lease to ensure protection of the entire 900 hectares of the site promised as conservation land.

DEC's proposed reduction in the size of the Regional Park means that 35 ha of the National Estate will have no formal protection and will remain with Lend Lease, a property developer, for it to manage. 

This is simply outrageous and we should not stand for it.

ADI RAG has written numerous letters of concern to decision makers at all levels of Government about the eventual size and management of the Regional Park and the fate of the RNE lands. This issue is well known to those decision makers. 

Penrith Council is one level of government that has argued that all of the RNE lands be included in a 900 ha Regional Park. In 2000 the new Labor dominated Council shifted from wanting to save the whole site to only wanting to protect the 828 ha of RNE listed lands. This is still their policy and should be their line in the sand. They must put the people of Penrith before party politics and their State leaders.

All of the RNE lands labelled by NPWS as Residual RNE lands are contained within the Penrith Local Government Area so are of specific concern to Penrith Council. 

These extracts are correspondence received from Penrith's Council.

And this is the line from Bob Debus the NSW Environment Minister

And this is an example of what Lend Lease was telling the public about the size of the Regional Park. This is a flyer that they distributed to local households.

And this extract from their Eastern Precinct Biodiversity Assessment

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Residual National Estate.pdf 971kb

Regional Park  Recreation.pdf 461kb