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Well we’re into week two of the tour and
it’s just 68 days away from the election and today we headed up to Pittwater with our
candidate Rob Stokes. Rob is a local through and through and it becomes pretty
obvious as soon as you step foot on Mona
Vale Beach.
He knows absolutely everyone.
This morning we started off the day with a
swim at Mona Vale with local swimming clubs. Every morning Deb and I get down
to Bondi for a swim and a run along the beach and it was great to come up to
the Northern Beaches this morning for a change of scenery. 2007 has a lot of
significance for the Mona Vale Surf Life Saving Club – it’s their 85th
anniversary and this is also the Year of the Lifesaver.
 After our swim we went to Warriewood for a
hearty breakfast before heading up to Scotland
Island, which is one of Sydney’s best kept
secrets nestled away in the middle of Pittwater. Every time I come up here I’m
struck with how lucky people up here are to live in such a beautiful natural
environment, but still be living in Sydney – just like in Camden, the
Hawkesbury or the Sutherland Shire. Unfortunately Labor has let them down by
failing to invest in the infrastructure this community needs. The state of some
of the roads are so bad that they can’t be used in the wet and they’re unable
to be accessed by fire trucks in the case of an emergency.
From Scotland Island
we went back to the mainland at Bayview to meet with the Bayview-Church Point
Residents’ Association about the impact of Frank Sartor’s draconian planning
changes on the community. Frank, David and Faye told us about a particular
development the community is fighting that runs roughshod over the local
community and ignores the character of the area. It’s typical of Labor’s
approach to communities in NSW.
 We made the trek across to Turimetta
Headland where the Warriewood sewerage treatment plant has its cliff-face
outfall. Here we announced a $4 million water recycling project. We will
recycle water from Warriewood to irrigate local sporting fields and implement
the outcomes of the Pittwater Community Water Conservation Study, which will
reduce the amount of wastewater generated. It’s an absolute disgrace how little
water we recycle - only 3.5% at a time when our dams are at historic
lows.
Water is the most critical challenge facing
the people of NSW and after twelve years Labor has done nothing to address the
crisis in our water supply. Labor’s answer to the problem is more spin and a
desalination plant that doesn’t stack up on any grounds.
The people of NSW can’t afford to wait two
and a half years for desalination. We need to do more to recycle our water now.
Our future water supply is one of the biggest issues facing this nation and we
need urgent action to drought-proof NSW. Our plan in Pittwater is a win-win situation
for everyone.
 It was then back to Mona Vale to meet with
members of the Pittwater RSL. The club has just been slugged $825,000 in
Section 94 contributions for two bowling greens – more than double their cost.
This has got to be today’s hands-down winner for bureaucracy gone mad. Labor
just doesn’t understand the importance of community groups and the local clubs
that support them.
After twelve years of Labor they’ve had
enough second chances and the people of NSW are paying for them. Today just
made me even more convinced that the only solution to the problems in NSW is a
change of Government.
Peter Debnam
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David and Faye Williams
Rob Stokes and Peter Debnam showed real
interest in our concerns over the proliferation of inappropriate SEPP SL
developments in Bayview and Church Point.
The area is zoned residential 2A for single
dwellings only. Dual occupancy and residential flat dwellings (multi-unit) are
not permitted. However under the SEPP legislation multi-unit developments may
be permitted even though they may be miles from facilities and totally
out-of-character with the existing and future character of the area.
To replace mature trees with multi-storey
units and concrete planter boxes, nature strips with concrete footpaths and dig
out half the hillside to create enormous car parking against the wishes of the
local community and neighbours alike is clearly inappropriate in our area –
which we love for its nature.
There will always be a need for a variety
of accommodation types but let’s put them in areas more suited for their
purpose. Putting homes for disabled and elderly on the side of steep hills is
less then ideal.
Labor’s SEPP allows developers to side-step
Council zoning requirements and ride roughshod over the community.
We are pleased to hear that Peter Debnam
and his team will allow more local input and review the ‘one size fits all’
approach that prevails under Labor.
After meeting Peter, his wife Deborah and
Rob Stokes, we are convinced that they will bring democracy back into the
Government in NSW.
David and Faye Williams
Bayview |
