Update 25 June 2010
Date: 25-Jun-10
Author: Peter Firminger
Hi all,
The Cessnock LEP 2010 will be put on exhibition for 28 days from (I'm told - to be confirmed) 7 July 2010. See news story here.
Councillor Graham Smith tried to have the Significant Lands overlay map removed from Wollombi and Mulbring (quite a surprise to everyone) but failed to gather support. Some of the Heritage items were removed. I'll be getting a list of exactly which of these affected items were and I'll publish it when I get it but I believe at least one of our churches may be involved.
Following a long discussion with Bo Moshage (along with Paul and Priscilla who will report to Progress tomorrow), I believe that this will simply mean a process of having any Heritage Items that have been dropped (for the sake of some unwanted items) re-included by submission in the exhibition period. I don't have a problem with this approach as some listed items in the schedules that were excluded were inappropriate to the owners. This was a simple way to get it through to re-exhibition - in a very complex environment of councillors having to leave the room repeatedly during discussion and voting on a document that was split into 24 parts to allow it to pass in this way. Otherwise it would never have been able to pass.
Bo said that there will be two meetings held in Wollombi, one with the Wollombi Working Party and one public meeting, so these and any other issues can be discussed.
Overall, this is all good and we can look forward to having this period of stress and bitterness put behind us. Some of the Wollombi BANANAS (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) will still bleat like the pre-historic goats they emulate - but you can't please everyone!
Now there is a proposal from the "Traffic Committee" about making the Great North Road at Ramsay's Leap Bucketty a single lane (with a Stop Sign etc.) to apparently make way for parking for tourists and koalas who want to gaze over the edge. I asked the Director of Infrastructure (Acting General Manager - David Pavey) about this and he said that it had been sent back to the Traffic Committee for further discussion and has not been approved. A recommendation from the Traffic Committee is not automatically adopted by Council - it will still have to go through the process, so take a look at the proposal and have your say to your Ward Councillors. See below (after the events list) for some details.
I'm not going to comment much further on this as I really don't care that much. I rarely go to Sydney any more and I have far more interesting things to do. I DO care greatly about the speed of bikes (and cars) down that hill and along that road generally, and the need for RFS volunteers to have to cope with the aftermath. Some say this will be a head-on collision waiting to happen... Yep, if you go through a Stop Sign while another vehicle is approaching with the right of way, you will likely come to grief!
If you don't like it, feel free to write up what you want about it and post it on the Wollombi Community Website, send it to me and I'll post it on your behalf, or get your ass into action, write to the Councillors, get into a Progress meeting and do something about it for yourself.
Progress is the appropriate local body to deal with this and I'm sure it will be discussed fervently tommorrow morning.
The proposed destruction of the (Endangered Ecological Community) Warkworth Sands Woodland, the wiping of Wallaby Gully Road (c 1830 - a Sir Thomas Mitchell-surveyed GNR carraigeway) from the map and the very likely total loss of the village of B
