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The Community Environment Network (CEN) has called upon Central Coast Council Administrator Rik Hart to reject a proposed Plan of Management for over 2000 lots of council-owned community land.
By Jacquelene Pearson*
The Community Environment Network (CEN) has expressed its distress and disappointment that over 340 submissions have been set aside by Central Coast Council as it moves to adopt a single generic plan of management for over 2000 lots of community land.
CEN contends council staff have also ignored requests from the community to categorise hundreds of lots as Natural Areas.
CEN said it made one of the comprehensive submissions that staff have set aside and attempted to meet Rik Hart in March to discuss its concerns to no avail.
CEN’s first submission concluded that the draft plan of management, now being put through to the Administrator for adoption, may not comply with Central Coast Council’s obligations under the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act), particularly in relation to the management of Natural Areas (bushland, waterways, escarpment, foreshore and wetlands).
“CEN’s second submission found at least 200 lots that should have been Natural Areas incorrectly categorised as either general use, parks or sportsgrounds, plus a failure to acknowledge a site of cultural significance that is identified in the Central Coast Local Environmental Plan 2022,” said CEN Chair, Mr Chestnut.
“Reading in the staff report to the April council meeting that ‘no amendments to the overview or detailed provisions for the finalised POM have been considered necessary on account of the submissions’ was disappointing and distressing,” Mr Chestnut said.
“I ask Mr Hart, why are council staff in such a hurry to push this through? And why have they chosen to ignore deep and long-term local knowledge?” he said.
“CEN is concerned that the public consultation was nothing more than a box ticking exercise. We hope the council meeting will be more than a rubber-stamping exercise by Administrator Hart in his role as appointed substitute for the community’s elected representatives.
“Our principal concern is that there are legal restrictions on dealings over land categorised as Natural Areas and the staff comment that a ‘large number of pieces of community land on the Central Coast could be best described as bushy parks’ does not address those legal restrictions.”
According to CEN, council’s choice to “categorise such land as Park to provide a more flexible form of care and control, especially where there is disturbance to the pre-existing environment and Council does not have the express intention of returning the land to an undisturbed natural state” demonstrates council’s lack of understanding of its legal obligations.
Mr Chestnut said CEN was thankful that 22 Natural Area land parcels had been removed from the schedule, but many others deserved review and a significant number deserved their own plans of management.
“CEN contends that a plan of management for community land must reflect how council will manage each parcel of land in line with the core objectives for each category under the LG Act and other laws that relate to the use of the land.
“The plan of management in its current form fails to do this in relation to the management of Natural Areas. It should be rejected by Mr Hart and perhaps he could recommend this project be placed in the hands of council’s qualified environmental staff and not its commercial property team,” Mr Chestnut said.
“We restate the core objectives for the management of Natural Areas as set out clearly in the Local Government Act below. We ask Mr Hart to explain how he believes the plan of management recommended for his adoption demonstrates how council will adhere to these core objectives in its management of the Coast’s council-managed Natural Areas of public land:
36E Core objectives for management of community land categorised as a natural area
The core objectives for management of community land categorised as a natural area are–
(a) to conserve biodiversity and maintain ecosystem function in respect of the land, or the feature or habitat in respect of which the land is categorised as a natural area, and
(b) to maintain the land, or that feature or habitat, in its natural state and setting, and
(c) to provide for the restoration and regeneration of the land, and
(d) to provide for community use of and access to the land in such a manner as will minimise and mitigate any disturbance caused by human intrusion…”
Source: http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/lga1993182/s36e.html
CEN has invited concerned members of the public to email Mr Hart ahead of the April Council meeting about this issue. His email address is [email protected]
CEN’s submissions can be read in full here
*Jacquelene Pearson is a casual employee of the Community Environment Network
