Greens candidates across NSW, including those for the Gosford and Terrigal electorates, are signing up to the Community Charter for good planning.
Gosford candidate Kate da Costa and Terrigal candidate Doug Williamson recently met with Greens Upper House candidate James Ryan to sign the Charter. The Community Charter was written following widespread community disappointment with the failure of both Labor and Liberal Governments to properly engage in genuine consultation and strategic planning. A coalition of stakeholders including the Better Panning Network, Nature Conservation Council, National Trust, National Parks Association, Shelter NSW, NSW Heritage Network and the Total Environment Centre developed the Community Charter for Good Planning and invited all candidates for the 2015 NSW Election to endorse it. Mr Ryan said: “The Greens are very happy to support the Charter and we congratulate the community based organisations who produced it.” “The Charter underscores the importance of consultation, strategic and evidence based decision making, and the importance of ecologically sustainable development. “So much of the development being approved by the NSW Government would not pass the Charter test. “Here in Gosford we are standing outside the magnifi cent Art Deco Creighton’s Funeral Home, which is proposed for demolition, with its facade reconstructed after construction of a 13-storey tower. “The overwhelming weight of pubic submissions is against this proposal. “It is also a good example of the need for consultants’ reports to be at arm’s length from developers,” he said. Ms da Costa said : “You only have to look around Gosford to see that we need strategic planning. “The Creighton site is a good example in being next to the arts and culture precinct; the visual aesthetics and cultural history of the site need to be maintained. “The community has been denied the chance to have the DA over Creightons decided by Council. “Instead, the decision is taken out of their hands and will be made by the Joint Regional Planning Panel.” Mr Williamson said: “Too often, our beautiful environment on the Central Coast is sacrifi ced for the sake of development.” “The Charter puts ecologically sustainable development right up front so our biodiversity is protected from over development.”
Media release,
12 Mar 2015
Kate da Costa,
The Greens