The Government jettisoned its own established planning policies to force intrusive, overwhelming urban development on the heritage village of Catherine Hill Bay by Coal and Allied and RoseCorp.
Updated RoseCorp plan showing 600 houses! Click here, then scroll down to the “State Significant Site and Major Project (concept plan) application for redevelopment of Catherine Hill Bay and Gwandalan” section. Hard copies are on display at Lake Macquarie and Wyong Council chambers and Department of Planning offices in Newcastle , Central Coast and head office ( 23-33 Bridge St Sydney ).
One man – the Planning Minister Mr Sartor – had the power to
- Push aside the advice of the Planning Department and Heritage Office.
- Ignore the protests of two Councils and the decision of the Land and Environment Court against the Rosecorp development plan.
- Harm the unique heritage value of the Bay’s village and landscape — just to keep the developers happy
- The Bay was at the bottom of the Planning Department list of 91 possible sites in the Hunter for development, but Mr Sartor pushed it to the top – ignoring his own department’s advice. (Herald article attached) (FOI documents)
- The Government made a mockery of due process and fair treatment of the community; setting an appalling precedent for every other coastal community.
- Planning Minister Sartor gave an undertaking to the community to list the Bay on the State Heritage Register and has failed to do so.
- The decision undermined the integrity of Coastal Policy and other planning policies to protect the coast from exactly the type of decision he made.
- Lake Macquarie Council spent tens of thousands of dollars defending the Government’s existing policies for the coast, but the Sartor decision treated the council and its ratepayers like doormats.
- The Newcastle Herald said in an editorial on Tuesday 24th October 2006 that Mr Sartor “surely (would) not want to go down in history as the man who destroyed a precious piece of Australia ‘s history. A society that obliterates its past faces a soulless future.” Herald article attached
