Tweed Echo – Issue 4.10 – 03/11/2011

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THE TWEED www.tweedecho.com.au Volume 4 #10 Thursday, November 3, 2011

BLUESFEST 2012 FIRST ARTIST ANNOUNCEMENT

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LOCAL & INDEPENDENT

In Seven – see page 15

Developer’s dossier ‘intended to intimidate’ Steve Spencer and Luis Feliu

Tweed mayor Barry Longland and council general manager Mike Rayner have sprung to the defence of the shire’s planning staff against unprecedented attacks on them in a dossier-style report compiled by the developer of the shire’s biggest housing projects. The report details developer Leda’s criticism of some senior staff and councillors they accuse of a green-leaning bias. Despite a warning from senior council staff that copies should be kept confidential, some were leaked to local daily newspapers and one councillor has sent a copy to a state MP. The release of the report follows Leda’s growing frustration over delays in winning final approvals for the proposed Kings Forest satellite city west of Kingscliff and hiccups with its Cobaki development. The council has endorsed staff submissions raising concerns with the NSW Planning Department more than a year ago about the impacts of some of the proposed earthworks and water drainage plans at Kings Forest. The report claims planning staff assessing the massive developments had written ‘biased’ reports and held a ‘negative attitude’ to developers. But both Mr Rayner and Cr Longland say the 74-page document, marked ‘not for publication’, only gives Leda’s spin on the company’s dealings with council planners.

Ecologists targeted The dossier also targets a number of ecologists and consultants who often deal with council, detailing information about their personal lives and qualifications. One of those, David Milledge, told The Echo he had not seen a copy of the report but felt it was ‘intended to intimidate’ professionals who had an input on the massive developments. And a former Murwillumbah manager of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Nigel Greeenup, backed it up by saying the dossier represented ‘private attacks on individuals in an attempt to intimidate them into “toeing the corporate line”’.

Mr Greenup wrote to local newspapers saying that ‘thankfully, in Tweed Shire we have some councillors and a general manager with the intestinal fortitude to stand up to such bully-boy tactics’. Cr Longland said any suggestion planning staff should censor their reports could be equally viewed as biased behaviour. He said it was the duty of planning staff to put forward all arguments relevant to a project, then it was up to councillors to make their decision.

Developers frustrated ‘These are largely issues about environmental assessments over a long period of time. Since the land was rezoned in 1988, standards of environmental protection have changed, which may have caused some frustration for the developers,’ said Cr Longland. Leda spokesman Reg Van Rij denied his company had provided a copy of the confidential document to the media and also declined an invitation to identify the author of the report. Mr Rayner said he wanted to ‘make it very clear to all parties that chief planner Vince Connell has my full and unconditional support in the manner he and his staff have dealt with a range of complex issues relating to Leda. ‘Leda has provided a view of its dealings with council over a long period of time, but the view is from Leda’s perspective. Needless to say, other parties will have different views, as I indeed do.’ Cr Joan van Lieshout, who is married to a Tweed developer, said she was concerned about the allegations in the report and believed they should be investigated. She said she’d instigated a meeting of councillors to ask questions of Mr Rayner and had also sent a copy of the document to her Liberal Party colleague in the NSW Upper House, Scott MacDonald. ‘I want answers. I know planning staff are under the jurisdiction of the general manager but as councillors we should be informed,’ she said. ‘I have had no problem with the staff, but there is a report that says we need to investigate this and I think that is what we should be doing. It is

Fillies and fashionistas

Jenny Byrnes, of Tamworth, Kim Alcorn of Pottsville and Carla Davies of Cudgen went for a retro and colourful 60s beads and boots look as they soaked up the sunshine and heady atmosphere of the Melbourne Cup day at Murwillumbah racecourse on Tuesday. Around 3,000 people made the annual pilgrimage to the picturesque racecourse for the big event and Tweed River Jockey Club put on a six-race card. Racegoers and punters as usual drowned out the broadcast of the big two-mile race, won again by an overseas stayer, this time it was a French double, with Dunaden just pipping out Red Cadeaux by a nose for the multimillion-dollar prizemoney. German horse Lucas Cranach was third with another French stayer, last year’s winner and favourite, Americain, making a late run to snatch fourth place. The first seven horses were all foreigners, overshadowing a long reign of domination of the continued on page 2 Cup by Australian and New Zealand bred horses. Photo Jeff ‘Cup Half Empty’ Dawson

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