O’Farrell only half-way there with first-100-days promise to abolish Part
A Commission of Inquiry into Barangaroo is the first test of the new government’s resolve to rid NSW of the toxic legacy of Part 3A planning laws and ensure the people of NSW get a Barangaroo they can be proud of, Australians for Sustainable Development (AfSD) said today.
“Part 3A was abused by the former NSW Labor Government to discard the winning design for Barangaroo and allow Lend Lease to draw up plans to effectively sub-divide Sydney Harbour, over-develop the shoreline and avoid laws to properly deal with contamination,” says AfSD spokesperson Councillor John McInerney.
“While we welcome the commitment to throw Part 3A on the scrapheap as one of the Premier’s first 100 days promises, the risks associated with Barangaroo proceeding any further mean a commitment to a Commission of Inquiry into Barangaroo is urgently needed,” says Clr McInerney.
The Premier has stated that ‘transitional arrangements would be put in place to deal with the more than 500 Part 3A applications already in the system’.
AfSD has collected more than 7000 signatures in two weeks; demanding a Commission of Inquiry into Barangaroo, as well as a repeal of Part 3A planning laws.
“Announcing a Commission of Inquiry into Barangaroo is an opportunity for Premier O’Farrell to make good on his promise to ‘return transparency and accountability to government’,” says Clr McInerney.
The Labor Government approved the Barangaroo development in the hours before it assumed caretaker mode in March, with the former Planning Minister ignoring overwhelming community concern about the scale of the development and risk of contamination
“We now know that the former Planning Minister Tony Kelly made that decision in a way calculated to avoid legal review and silence the voices of communities around the harbour who are concerned about the impact of this inappropriate development.
“What gets built at Barangaroo will forever alter Sydney’s skyline and the shores of Sydney Harbour and bad development will only damage Sydney’s reputation as a beautiful harbour city,” says Clr McInerney.
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