An alliance of 13 community groups has reaffirmed its opposition to any sell-off of the Austin Butler Reserve at Woy Woy with the issue back out for public consultation.
The groups have written an open letter to Central Coast Council Administrator Rik Hart, Council CEO David Farmer and Minister for the Central Coast David Harris, to push for the land to remain in community ownership.
Residents are being asked to vote to either: keep the reserve as community land; or support its reclassification to operational so it can be sold to the adjacent Peninsula Plaza, with money raised from any sale to go into an “extensive street tree planting program” on the Peninsula.
Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch has described the second option as “blackmail” and says greening the Peninsula should not be dependent upon the sale of community land.
The 4000+ square metre reserve includes 44 mature paperbark and she oak trees which are the last substantial area of natural shade in the Woy Woy town centre.
The groups which have joined forces to fight the sale of the flood-prone public land are: Peninsula Residents Association; Peninsula Environment Group; Grow Urban Shade Trees (GUST); Mingaletta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation; WIRES; Australian Conservation Foundation Central Coast Group; Community Environment Network (CEN); Koolewong Point Clare Tascott Progress Association; Save Central Coast Reserves; Save Our Woy Woy; Wildlife Arc; Residents for Responsible Ettalong Development (RRED); and Pearl Beach Progress Association.
GUST spokesperson Jennifer Wilder has written to Hart protesting the suggestion.
We don’t think an urban greening program should be conditional on getting rid of this rare remnant of native woodland
GUST spokesperson Jennifer Wilder
“We don’t think a much-needed urban greening program should be conditional on getting rid of this rare remnant of native woodland,” she said.
“We have measured every single tree at Austin Butler using a calculator provided by the Australian Standard Protection of Trees on Development sites (AS4970-2009) and an amenity value calculator used by Melbourne City Council.
“We applied the formula for trees with multiple trunks – which is the case with many of the trees in Austin Butler.
“The 44 trees in the reserve have an amenity monetary value of $1,478,369.02.
“We know the trees are worth much more to the community and the wildlife who live there but that figure should be added to the market value of comparable land for commercial use, which we estimate to be at least $20M.
“We don’t want council to sell this land at all but, if they do, its price should be no less than $21.5 million.”
Peninsula Residents Association spokesperson Julian Bowker said the community had been telling the Council since late 2020 that it did not want the land reclassified, rezoned or sold.
“Pedestrian safety has been put forward as a reason for needing the land but there is no publicly available information about the dangers of the current loading dock, pedestrian safety or traffic hazards,” he said.
“Council says it is now in a financially stable situation after previous land sales and other measures so why does it need to sell more public land?
“We know some of the previous land sales have resulted in developers reselling land within months for massive profits so there is very little trust in the process.”
Chair of the Community Environment Network, Gary Chestnut, said Hart’s latest resolution not only went against the grain of the community but was probably in breach of the Local Government Act.
“This land was dedicated to Council for community recreation and there has been no resolution to discharge that dedication, as required by the Local Government Act (Section 30-1),” he said.
“The land is zoned RE1 Public Recreation, so its sale depends upon Council amending the Local Environment Plan 2022 (CCLEP 2022).
“It is troubling that Mr Hart resolved in July 2021 that, subject to an executed Deed of Option to Purchase Agreement, Council would provide owner’s consent for Peninsula Plaza to apply for a planning proposal on behalf of Council to amend CCLEP 2022 and lodge a future Development Application (DA).
“It is far from best practice for a council to pre-empt the outcome of a community consultation on a reclassification or a rezoning of public land.
“These actions have created multiple conflicts of interest for the council.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation Central Coast Community Group spokesperson, Mark Ellis, said the alliance had already held two events at Austin Butler to demonstrate opposition to the council’s position.
“Mr Hart’s offer of a street greening program makes us think he has forgotten about the council’s Greener Places Strategy, adopted in 2022,” he said.
“Keeping Austin Butler and street greening the Woy Woy Peninsula should not be mutually exclusive.
Keeping Austin Butler and street greening the Woy Woy Peninsula should not be mutually exclusive
Mark Ellis
“Council must implement measures to provide street trees and deep soil planting throughout the Peninsula in addition to protecting established trees, not instead of.”
The open letter (which will be published in Coast Community News on September 7) calls for Hart to rescind his resolution from the August council meeting; withdraw Austin Butler Reserve from sale; commit to keeping the reserve in public ownership; inform the owners of Peninsula Plaza and their key tenant, Woolworths, to use their own land to fix unverified ‘safety concerns’; and commit to street tree planting and deep soil provision to address its existing obligations to fix the “urban heat island effects on the Woy Woy Peninsula”.
Terry Collins
Reserves are there to be reserved for all for all time, not sold off so someone can get even richer.