TANK PADDOCK DECISION A RECIPE FOR ONGOING CONFLICT

Friday, 13 December 2002 10:00

A decision by Newcastle City Council to consider residential development of parts of the Tank Paddock will seriously compromise proper planning in the Minmi area and lead to ongoing community conflict the Total Environment Centre has warned.

"Newcastle Council's decision is a recipe for ad hoc planning and assumes that parts of this ecologically important area should be sacrificed for residential development. It ignores the vital regional importance of the site by considering it in isolation from other lands nearby", Mr Leigh Martin TEC Urban Campaigner said.

Conservation groups have called for the development of a detailed strategy to identify lands in the Minmi area capable of supporting development and those which should be conserved for environmental protection.

"Sustainable development of the Minmi area requires a detailed strategy to determine the most appropriate uses of all lands in the area. By considering the Tank Paddock in isolation Council is seriously undermining the development of a regional conservation strategy. They have also ignored previous advice from Council Officers not to consider rezoning of the Tank Paddock until the strategy is completed.

Conservation groups have warned that ad hoc decision making on the Tank Paddock issue will lead to ongoing conflict.

"Conservation groups have previously offered to work with Council to produce a strategy for all lands in the Minmi area. Last night's decision to pre-empt the development of a regional conservation strategy effectively rejected this offer and ensures that planning decisions in the Minmi area will be the subject of controversy and conflict for years to come", Mr Martin said.