2 October 2022
GIPA Release- What Have We Found Out?
After many months of work (thank you to our member who took this on!), Council has released some of the documents and records we requested- and we have already found many items of serious concern.
We have asked some volunteers with different areas of expertise to help us go through all the information. It’s a big job and if anyone would be interested in helping out please let us know- the more people with different knowledge or experience the better.
We will send an article to local media soon with some initial findings, see below. This is the tip of the iceberg.
In the Valuation Report for the land recently sold by Council, it is revealed that Council originally considered selling the land with a 20 meter buffer between existing houses and the development. This land would have been excluded from sale and zoned for public open space. It is unclear why this original plan was scrapped, and not presented as an option when Councillors voted to sell.
The Valuation Report also strongly suggests that Council seek a review due to the uncertainty of the market (covid lockdowns) which did not happen and this fact was not communicated to Councillors.
In email correspondence between Council staff and the Real Estate agent selling the land, Council instructs the estate agent not to 'scare the community' by mentioning how many lots the land may potentially yield.
Emails reveal that Council accepted the offer from Heppa Constructions, despite it not being the highest, because unlike other offers they did not ask for a due diligence period or make an offer dependent on DA approval. What does this say about this company?
There is no publicly available information on Heppa Constructions- no past projects, no company website, nothing.
Council emails state that the Real Estate agent has sold other regional NSW parcels to Heppa constructions, that their latest project ‘Casula’ is worth $15 million.
However, an internet search yields no information on this project- Why?
Did Council perform any checks on this company before accepting the offer?
Consultation- Empty Promises?
Remember way back to December 2021 when Council held a couple of community ‘consultation’ sessions on the Land Release? At the time, we raised concerns with Council staff person Angie Radford that the sessions were right in the lead up to the busy holiday period, when many people would be away, and held on a weekday.
She confirmed that there would be more consultation opportunities at a more suitable time of year. This has not happened.
Well our GIPA documents have revealed that Council never intended holding any more sessions until the formal exhibition of a draft Development Control Plan, which is required by law.
We made a presentation to Council on Sept 13, emailed staff and all Councillors Sept 25th and have finally made a plea to the Mayor, Clrs Worthington, Grace and Mayne for assistance in getting a response on this issue.
2 weekday sessions in December, before any planning work had commenced, so that there was nothing to consider or comment on- is that seriously all we can expect?
Council have employed Consultants to do the Master Plan and Development Control Plan for a $100, 000 fee. This is from the motion to approve that expenditure:
“Community engagement will be of paramount importance given the scale and history of the
land….
Establishing clear channels of communication and opportunities for community input will be
fundamental in ensuring a smooth and informed process….
Staged community engagement will ensure the outputs from this process are not only well-
informed by all aspects of community input but they can be endorsed by Council and used as
positive tools for growth for many years to come. In short, an opportunity exists to take an
integrated and in-depth approach to best practice place-making through the master planning
Process.”
Lindsay Usher- Director, Planning and Sustainability Services
Awareness Raising- Market Stalls
We need to get the word out and get more people involved in this campaign, alongside other local campaign groups from Broulee and Tuross. We are hoping to have an info table at some local markets, where people can get some more information, and clarify some of the misinformation out there. We will also sell some plants to raise money and hopefully get people’s attention in a positive way.
Would you like to help out with this? We need people to volunteer at the stall for part of the day, or to donate plants or other fundraising items.
AGM Coming Up- Electing Office Bearers
Dalmeny Matters is now incorporated, and we need to hold our AGM, present a financial report and elect office bearers. Would you be interested in taking on a role?
We will soon send a notice to all members (three weeks before the date of the meeting) to let you know the date, time and venue for the meeting.
Sign up for membership- it is easy at https://www.dalmenymatters.org/take-action
Or just fill in the word document application (copy below) and email it back.
Anyone can become a member, and joining really helps show that we are a committed, passionate, organised force to be reckoned with.
There is a $3 fee- the bank account details are on the form.
Do it now! Don’t forget!
Tuross/ Broulee/ Dalmeny Strategy Meeting 24/09/22
Our first meeting combining reps from our 3 campaigns was such a success! We had 25 attendees at the Tuross Country Club, who have kindly offered their meeting space free for future dates. We hope to make this a regular thing as we progress towards the State Election.
It was fantastic to have reps from A Better Eurobodalla, The Broulee Mossy Point Community Association, SHASA, Landcare, WIRES, and Eurobodalla Greens.
We are stronger together! One of our focuses for the meeting was identifying shared needs and opportunities:
A need for change/ action to come from a State Level, in order to prevent zombie developments and to have a chance of actually preventing development at the Dalmeny site, rather than just try to make small improvements/ changes.
An opportunity with the State Election coming up to communicate with Ministers and candidates- for example Michael Holland (Bega), Cate Faehrmann (MLC), Planning Minister (and shadow), Environment Minister (and shadow)
Combined awareness raising activities- starting with info stalls at markets, and planning for a day of action style event, perhaps coinciding with the launch of Coastal Residents United (CRU)- date to be advised.
The opportunity to learn from experiences in Broulee, and to use Broulee as a powerful example when talking to the community
Threatened birdlife present at each site. Therefore connecting with local and wider organisations such as the Eurobodalla Natural History Society, Birdlife Australia, would make sense. This could also present an awareness raising opportunity- perhaps bird surveys or bird tours over the summer holidays.