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Delivered free throughout the Port Macquarie, Laurieton, Comboyne, Wauchope and Kempsey regions • Phone: 6583 9088 • Thursday 9 July 2015
Anger grows over deal that offers city heart ... By NIKALA SIM THE heart of our town is not for sale say our local government leaders. Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Mayor Peter Besseling and Councillors Mike Cusato and Rob Turner are adamant public land should stay public. Their fury is over the Plaza car park on the corner of William and Short streets. The State Government announced last week that rather than sell the land to our Local Government it prefers to sell the six hectare block to multinational company Woolworths. “Quite simply, this is prime, waterfront real estate in a growing coastal centre that is currently in public hands,” Mr Besseling said. “The entry to our CBD, with its waterfront views and foreshore access, deserves better treatment than the easy bureaucratic path of selling it to a large supermarket.” The Council has been Trust Manager for the land since it was donated in the 1960s for the purpose of car parking. Councillor Rob Turner is extremely concerned about what he sees as a fast-tracking of the process. “On December 11, 2013 Council received a letter from Crown Lands about the in principle sale of the land to Woolworths and seeking our views,” Councillor Turner said. “On that same day a letter was written by Crown Lands stating we had been consulted and had given our strong support.” This resulted in two important State Government guidelines being waived – a land assessment and public interest test, he said.
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Cr Peter Besseling
Cr Rob Turner
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