LEP 2008 - March - A Time for Action

Date: 14-Mar-08
Author: Stephen Annis-Brown
Organisation: Progress
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Well, you've attended the meeting, you've heard the arguments, you've registered on the web site to be kept up to date with developments and digested all the relevant information, now it's time to take some action!

We've been repeatedly told by the relevant authorities that the Draft Cessnock LEP 2008 will go on public display in March 2008. Well it's March and by the time you read this it may well be on display. Whether it is or not, now is the time to take some positive action towards protecting your rights and entitlements concerning property matters and having a say in what will be the future of the Wollombi district for the next 20 years.

Now is the time to write those letters, send those faxes and e-mails, make those telephone calls and continue to do so until you receive an official reply confirming that these draconian and unjust proposals are going to be reviewed and withdrawn from a revised, fairer LEP 2008.

I, for one, will be objecting to the removal of 'existing holding' provisions from the new plan and therefore protecting the legal right that these particular property owners have to apply to build a residence at any time in the future they see fit.

I will also be opposing the implementation of a heritage conservation area from Bucketty in the south to Paynes Crossing in the north and to the outskirts of Millfield in the north east which will impose excessive burdens of compliance and a mountain of red tape (with the ultimate result being extra expense and further time delays) for even the most minor of developments. It's hard to comprehend that in the entire Cessnock LGA planners could not identify any other 'area' (apart from a section of Sawyers Gully Rd and restricted to the road reserve) worthy of bearing the burdens of a heritage conservation classification. Not even the world famous, historical wine growing region of Pokolbin had any 'area' worthy of heritage conservation. Funny that.

To complete my trifecta of objections I will also be asking why the Wollombi region is to have the new Zoning classification of E3(Environmental Management) imposed upon it. This zoning brings with it many more restrictions to potential land use and so effectively limits the type of developments that property owners may wish to undertake on their land. Why is it that areas such as Congewai, Millfield, Wallaby Gully and Quorobolong have all been flagged for the much more versatile, flexible RU2 (Rural Lifestyle) Zone. The landscape and topography of these areas are all remarkably similar to the Wollombi Valley (and deserving of the same thoughtful planning protections one would assume) and yet only the Wollombi area is to suffer the restrictions of the E3 Zone to the extent that you will not even be permitted to build tourist recreational facilities on your property. Whatever happened to Cessnock Councils long held belief in the benefits and prosperity that tourism could bring to economically struggling rural areas. They are certainly providing that option to property owners in just about every other rural area in the Shire.

There are plenty of other areas of concern in this Draft LEP that people should be willing to raise with their political representatives, like the absence of any future vision or direction for the village of Wollombi (remember that this plan will form the basis of planning for the next 20 years) and even the removal of any chance that Wollombi may one day be able to have the services of a resident doctor.
It seems that planning authorities and Cessnock City Council are happy to see "the Wollombi" slowly suffocate under a burden of bureaucracy and prescriptive regulations that could well result in dire consequences for the sustainable future of our Valley.

Over the years it has alway