From the Far End of the Council Table - 6 September 2009

Date: 06-Sep-09
Author: Councillor James Ryan
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What do Catherine Hill Bay and Cessnock have in common?

I'll get to that question in a minute. There is a very interesting public debate happening at the moment. You can't help but think the Labor Party is conducting a concerted campaign to get rid of Cessnock Council. If you read the papers like I do you will have noticed our local member Kerry Hickey having a go at Council in several Newcastle Herald articles. You will also notice letters to the Cessnock Advertiser. He is quoted in the Herald as believing that Cessnock Council is 'strangling growth' and there should be an investigation of Councils planning controls. Mr Hickey was scathing of Cessnock Council in a speech in Parliament.

There are a couple of reasons why Mr Hickeys comments should make us first laugh and then cry.

Firstly Cessnock Council is in a whole lot better shape than it was two years ago when the Government Inquiry was just beginning its investigations. At that time it was rare for any Councillor to declare a conflict of interest when developments before Council associated with people they had received a campaign donation from. There was no explanation why Council was doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of roadwork for Hightrade at the Crown Plaza site without a written contract.

Since the last Council election and the Inquiry findings have been made public Council has for the first time in my memory tendered for legal services. For the first time that I am aware of the Council has in place a professional program in place to measure the General Managers performance. For the first time that I know of the Council has in place a policy which will see the General Managers job advertised (due to occur in October 2010) as a matter of course and every General Manager (present and future) will have to compete for the job if they want to keep it for a second five year contract.

In an indication of how much Council has changed from two years ago, last week for the first time I have ever seen the ALP Councillors publically declared a conflict of interest in a development application which is being considered by Council. In this case the developer of 16 tourist cabins made a donation to their campaign. Those Councillors should be congratulated for that. There will be a site inspection before Council votes on the application at its next meeting. In the previous Council that would never have happened, donations were never declared despite the ALP Councillors campaign receiving approx. $25,000 worth.

Although I think the Inquiry into Cessnock Council only went half as far as it should have gone - I am particularly concerned Council is not tough enough with large developments and too tough on small developments - the Council is a darn sight better than is was.

The irony of all this is that when Kerry Hickey was Minister for Local Government and Cessnock Council was performing badly with a majority of ALP Councillors he did not do a single thing. Now at a time when the ALP has lost its majority on Cessnock Council our local Member is jumping up and down saying something should be done. Hm.........................

So what does Cessnock have in common with Catherine Hill Bay? You will have heard that the land and environment Court overturned the Planning Ministers decision to approve almost 800 houses at Catho and Gwandalan because the Minister had entered into a written agreement with the developer before the plan went on public exhibition. The judge labeled the deal a 'land-bribe'. Similar written agreements were entered into by Planning Minister Frank Sartor and Hardie Holdings for the massive Huntlee development at Branxton and the Sanctuary Villages proposal at Paxton. The Sweetwater Action Group from North Rothbury and Branxton is challenging the Huntlee approval in the Land and Environment Court. The case will be heard from 19^th to 23^rd of October.