About 50 people representing various community groups gathered outside Central Coast Council’s Wyong chambers prior to the general meeting on February 27 to demand big planning decisions be left until after councillors are elected on September 14.
Rallying at 5.30pm, the combined group said its brief was to “stop unelected councillors wrecking the Coast” and demand proper consultation rather than “PR spin”.
Protesters said Council was the most complained about council in NSW and there had been a 52 per cent increase in community complaints and a 155 per cent increase in complaints to the Environment and Planning Department.
They said Council did not follow its own policies and there was a lack of transparency.
A major point of contention was a “dubious” Wamberal Protection Association developer partnership to build a 1.3km seawall at Wamberal.
Protesters also bemoaned continued debt and broken rates promises and a decline in local services.
They are demanding more accountability from Administrator Rik Hart and senior Council officers.
Groups represented were Wamberal Save Our Sand, the Community Environment Network, the Central Coast Community Better Planning Group, Gosford Politics in the Pub, Central Coast Australian Conservation Foundation (CCACF), Save Our Coast, and Stop the Sell-off.
Several people addressed the crowd, including Norm Harris from (CCACF), who said many residents wanted and deserved an ecologically sustainable future.
“(They want a future) that protects the beauty, amenity and biodiversity across the whole Central Coast and not developer profit margins aided and abetted by … directors who want to rezone environmental lands for development,” he said.
Harris spoke of systems failures within Council and said the Central Coast Regional 2036 Plan focused on safeguarding the environment as paramount.
“Yet there are too many inappropriate planning proposals and developments listed as State Significant Developments on important conservation lands that are to be rezoned,” he said.
“The Council Under Administration is not protecting the environment or serving the people (with a) large portion of Deferred Matters Land being proposed to be rezoned from environmental protection.
“We are calling on the Council to review the Deferred Lands planning proposal to rezone 7(a) Conservation and scenic protection land to C3 zone which allows a broad range of developments on the land.”
He called on the State Government to review and fix the CCLEP 2022 and place a moratorium on all rezonings, SSDs and developments that involve land zoned C2 and C3.
Terry Collins
Speaking from experience after attending a recent council meeting , it was very evident that there is no democratic process in place with Rik Hart as Administrator; who is unilaterally making decisions that gravely affect current direction; decisions and our coasts future ; ecologically, culturally & socially along with inappropriate development on the central coast targeting areas of land protected as crown land or within protected land zoning areas.