PLANNING FIASCO IN LOWER HUNTER

Wednesday, 11 February 2009 23:14

The NSW Planning Minister’s sanction of “Huntlee” deals a heavy blow to public confidence in the state's planning system, Total Environment Centre (TEC) said today.

"This should have been an easy development proposal to reject,” said Jeff Angel, Director of TEC. “About 50% of the habitat of NSW's rarest plant (persoonia pauciflora) will be destroyed. The developer has also earmarked offset land for conservation which is contaminated. According to the Department of Environment and Climate Change, it poses a "significant risk of liability" to the NSW Government."

Moreover, the largest single new residential development in NSW will be a car-dependent town that reduces biodiversity and increases greenhouse gas emissions. There are no plans to increase the current four trains a day service and no obligations have been placed on Hardie Holdings to contribute to any upgrade.

“Government claims that Huntlee is positioned to take advantage of the rail network are barely credible,” Mr Angel said.

“Because of the developer’s large donations to the NSW ALP of nearly half a million dollars over six years, questions will inevitably be asked about the integrity of this decision,” Mr Angel added, “especially since the Planning Minister's approval sees land set aside for conservation reduced by 160ha from the original proposal.”