Latest Currawong information

None so blind …     From the Geens www.greens.org.au Thursday 21 January 2010   Greens spokesperson for Planning, Sylvia Hale MLC, today expressed her disappointment at the ICAC’s refusal to investigate the murky dealings surrounding the sale of the Unions NSW Pittwater retreat at Currawong.       “In September 2005 the Minister for Lands, Tony Kelly, made an unconditional offer of $12.5 million to Unions NSW to buy the Currawong site and add it to the adjoining Ku-ring-gai National Park,” said Ms Hale. “The then Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, and Minister Kelly, were reported to favour the purchase but it was strongly opposed by Michael Costa, the Treasurer at the time. In November 2005 the government’s offer was withdrawn. “The Unions NSW tender process was overseen by ALP insider David Tanevski, a close friend of Costa and former director with Costa of the ill-fated Unions NSW computer venture, ‘Getonboard’. “Another Costa associate was Allen Linz, a director with Tanevski of Kingsway Capital, which had a one-third stake in Getonboard.  “Linz’s company, Eco-Villages Australia, made an offer of $15 million to buy Currawong. It was accepted in a deal brokered by Tanevski’s company KWC Capital Partners.  “Ultimately Eco-Villages Australia paid only $11 million for the property – less than that offered by the State government and far short of the $30 million tender offered by murdered loan shark Michael McGurk on behalf of the Medich property group. “Michael McGurk is reported to have said that Medich lost out because KWC had better connections with key ALP figures. “In June 2005 KWC Capital Partners donated $29,000 to the NSW ALP. The deal to sell Currawong was concluded in February 2007. On 12 February 2007 KWC Capital donated a further $15,000 to the NSW ALP, and $24,000 just two weeks later on 2 March 2007. “The questions that beg to be answered are: §         why did the Department of Lands withdraw its offer to buy Currawong? §         What influence was brought to bear on the former Treasurer to persuade him not to allow the deal to proceed, despite the Minister for Lands and the Minister for Planning strongly supporting it? “For the ICAC to refuse to examine these matters is not good enough. The public has every right to expect it to conduct a rigorous investigation. After all, the pressure private individuals are able to exert on government decision-making lies at the very heart of the McGurk inquiry,” Ms Hale said.   Further information: Colin Hesse 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124 Currawong Leader Honoured Shane Withington Pittwater Citizen of the Year Our inspirational leader Shane is the recipient of the Pittwater Council award presented on Australia Day. It is most appropriate that the Council and the Pittwater community recognise his personal contribution. For more than 15 years, Shane has fought to protect Currawong for future generations of Australia. He has, with the loving support of his family, spent many thousands of hours raising awareness of the importance of Currawong, mobilising support and negotiating with key figures to protect Currawong from inappropriate development. One significant result of his unrelenting campaign has been the heritage listing of the site by the NSW State Government. From the Pittwater Council web site: Shane Withington received his award for leadership of a campaign to save Currawong from inappropriate development. Shane has been the leader and key figure of this campaign for 15 years. He has spent literally thousands of hours lobbying, persuading, negotiating and raising awareness to secure the protection of Currawong. His efforts have been unrelenting. So much so, that his daughter once said fondly that there are four people in the family namely, mother, father, daughter and Currawong! Though the future of Currawong is still to be finally decided, the heritage listing of the site will ensure that any development will be limited and in line with the historic and environmental values of the site. http://www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/home/news_highlights/pittwaters_australia_day_award_winners Shane would like to personally thank the FOC committee and all the supporters for their ongoing commitment. "Once again it shows the significance Currawong has for the Pittwater community." The Friends of Currawong on behalf of the local community express our deep gratitude to Shane for his unrelenting commitment to the protection of the historic and environmental values of Currawong.   Friends of Currawong Committee 27 January 2101   ICAC Statement: Currawong retreat sale not in ICAC jurisdiction Thursday 21 January 2010 The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) will not include the 2007 sale of the Unions NSW Pittwater retreat at Currawong in its upcoming public inquiry into corrupt conduct involving Michael McGurk and others, as the matter is not within the Commission's jurisdiction. There have been recent media reports that the Greens Planning Spokesperson, Ms Sylvia Hale, the NSW Opposition Leader, Mr Barry O'Farrell, and the Member for Pittwater, Mr Rob Stokes, have called for the Commission to include the sale in 2007 of the Unions NSW Pittwater retreat at Currawong as part of the planned public inquiry to be held next month. Ms Hale's media officer telephoned the ICAC on 20 January 2010 and orally requested that the Commission broaden its terms of reference for the public inquiry to include this matter. Mr O'Farrell and Mr Stokes have not yet contacted the ICAC about this matter. The matter will not be dealt with as part of the planned public inquiry because the ICAC can only investigate allegations of "corrupt conduct" as that term is defined in the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988. To come within the definition of "corrupt conduct" the relevant conduct must either be that of a public official or public authority (as those terms are defined by the ICAC Act) or adversely affect the exercise of public official functions of a public authority or public official. The Currawong site was owned by Unions NSW, which is not a public authority. No evidence has been placed before the ICAC tending to show that the sale of the Currawong property involved corrupt conduct on the part of any public official or public authority. The Commission will be making no further statements in relation to this matter at this stage. Friends of Currawong we need letters As you can see the fight for Currawong is moving ahead with the assistance of the Sydney Morning Herald. The two articles show just how hot the issue is with the media. The two Herald journalists are getting ever closer to revealing the truth behind the backroom deals involved in Currawongs  ‘so called sale’ and we should all look forward to more stories as we head towards an election. We have not fired our last shot. Currawong will be featuring again in the future we can assure you. What we do need in the next couple of days is for our supporters to pen a letter or two to the Herald asking for Unions NSW to distance itself from the current murky deal and to ask questions about why individual Unions are not objecting to a deal that clearly calls into question the business ethics of Unions NSW. We all need to demand that the current deal be abandoned and that negotiations take place between Unions NSW and the State Government in order for the State to purchase the site for the people of NSW. Because the Herald is running with our story they will be inclined to feature our letters…. So it’s a good time to write . We are optimistic about a positive outcome….but we’ll still have to fight for it. The Friends of Currawong Committee would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our supporters a merry Christmas and we all look forward to an energetic new year of campaigning ….and succeeding . With patience and persistence we will prevail.  Shane Withington. On behalf of the Friends of Currawong Committee  posted: 18 Dec 2009 Stokes Calls On Keneally To Purchase Currawong For People Of NSW

Click here for the full story...

posted: 11 Dec 2009

Vale Tony Cullen

It is with the deepest regret that we inform the Friends of Currawong of the passing of Tony Cullen.

Posted: 04 December 2009

Currawong News

Posted: 03 December 2009

Dear supporters,

News has reached us that Unions NSW has signed a sale agreement with “Eco Villages” with a settlement date of twelve months from now. We imagine that the sale will be dependent on a successful development application. Details of the deal are thin on the ground as usual however this is no cause for despair. We always knew that this was one option that could crop up and you can bet your boots that the Heritage restrictions that we put in place with our historic win will make life very difficult for them. At this early stage it is a case of wait and see, always the hardest part. Now would be a good time to remember that:

• they will never have a housing estate on the site which they intended last time,

• they will never dump half a million tonnes of infill on the site like they intended last time,

• they will never build a gated community on the site like they intended last time,

• they will never destroy the heritage significance of the site like they intended last time,

• they will never dredge the creek like they intended last time.

The last time we fought and defeated them we were fighting over a piece of real estate (although a very special one) this time we are fighting over a registered heritage site….every single square inch, thanks to all of you.

And this time we are a well oiled fighting machine with years of experience, we have a local Council that is 100% behind us and a local Member who is a totally committed fighter and we have our dedicated and caring supporters without whom none of this would be possible. I couldn't put it any better than Rob Stokes who raised the issue in Parliament last night  and I attach his speech here for you all to read.

So, we will take a well earned break over Christmas and come back fresh as ever to engage in the next exciting phase in our battle to protect the Heritage of Currawong Beach forever.

With patience and persistence we will prevail.

In Solidarity,

Shane Withington.

President of the Friends of Currawong.

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Currawong Documents

Download the released Government documents

Application and Declaration

Minister's press release

State Significance Site

Director General's Environmental Assessment

Director General's Requirements

Final DG Assessment 29 April 09

IHAP Part 1

IHAP Part 2

Proposed Listing on State Heritage Register

Determination of Major Project 28 April 2009

FRIENDS OF CURRAWONG TAKE A BOW!!!

(Then dust yourself off and keep fighting)

To all our Raiders, all our Friends and all our supporters and backers, in particular the hardworking Friends of Currawong Committee, congratulations, what an amazing win!!!

• There will be NO 25 lot gated community built on beautiful Currawong Beach.

• There will be NO dumping of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of infill on beautiful Currawong Beach.

• There will be NO McMansions built along the foreshore of beautiful Currawong Beach.

AND the ENTIRE site has been added to the State Heritage Register to be protected forever! A truly historic win against overwhelming odds

HOWEVER……

Although the Minister has made the correct decision, for which we applaud her, we must now ensure that Heritage protection means Heritage PROTECTION. As reported on Stateline (01/05/09), the Government is coming under increasing pressure to amend heritage listings.

Now we need letters and emails and phone calls to the Minister to ensure that the site is purchased by the Government and placed into the National Park where it belongs.

We will need to lobby the Government and monitor amendments to the Heritage act to ensure that Currawong can’t be removed from the Heritage list at any time in the future. We will also lobby Peter Garrett to have the only surviving workers holiday camp placed on the National Heritage register.

We need your help now.

We need you to email, write or ring the Minister for Planning Kristina Keneally:

Ms Kristina Keneally, Level 35 Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, SYDNEY NSW 2000

Phone (02) 9228 5811, Fax (02) 9228 5499 Email office@keneally.minister.nsw.gov.au

Congratulating her on her decision and urging her to ensure that the site is:

•         purchased by the Government

•         placed into the National Park where it belongs. 

 We need you to write or ring the Federal Minster for the Environment, Peter Garrett, urging him to:

Peter Garrett, Phone: 02 6277 7640, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, PO Box 6022, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600

"Have the only surviving intact workers holiday camp in Australia placed on the National register"

CURRAWONG DEVELOPMENT REJECTED

Press Clippings

Television News clips 29 April

Right click to Play/Stop video

Rob Stokes 30 April 2009

Victory at Currawong

“This result demonstrates that when the community unites in a just cause, no matter how gloomy the outlook – people power can prevail”

After a 12-year struggle, Northern Beaches residents have finally convinced NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally to refuse an application to subdivide the historic Currawong site within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, on Pittwater’s western foreshore.

The fight to preserve Currawong is not yet over but the ministerial decision marks one small victory.

Read the full article

Development binned, new heritage status
29 April 2009

Architecture & Design

MINISTERS PRESS RELEASE

“I received the best expert advice and detailed comments from the community, I went and saw the site, and based on that I have decided to refuse the application,” Ms Keneally said.

“My decision followed thorough and considered canvassing of the facts and local community opinions, including more than a year of rigorous assessment and community consultation."

Read the full press release

 

MEDIA RELEASE

PITTWATER COMMENDS CURRAWONG DECISION

Pittwater Mayor David James has welcomed the decision by the NSW Minister for Planning Kristina Keneally to refuse the development proposal for a subdivision of 25 homes at Currawong. 

“Pittwater Council is very pleased that the Minister has signalled the NSW Government’s intention to protect this historic site from inappropriate development,” the Mayor said. 

Currawong was the subject of a development proposal for 25 luxury homes by Eco Villages Pty Limited, following negotiations between the developer and the owner Unions NSW. 

The NSW Department of Planning took over the assessment of the development proposal from Pittwater Council, after it decided the site was one of state significance. 

In 2008 an independent planning assessment panel was formed by the Minister to hear submissions from the Council and the community on the development proposal. 

Following submissions from the public, including a two-day public hearing with residents’ groups and Council, the panel considered the proposal and put forward a recommendation to the Minister, who advised the Council yesterday that the development proposal would be refused. 

In refusing the development application, Minister Keneally cited ‘visual amenity, indigenous and European heritage, mainland parking and access and the method of wastewater disposal’ as key reasons. 

She was also quoted as saying that the ‘vulnerability of the proposed development on the lower lying section of the site’ to flooding was another important factor in the decision. 

The Minister has announced the NSW Department of Planning will place the whole Currawong site on the State Heritage Register. 

Mayor James said the Council and the Pittwater community had sought a heritage listing of Currawong for over a decade before the Eco Villages development proposal was submitted. 

He paid tribute to the Friends of Currawong and the Member for Pittwater Rob Stokes. “They have worked tirelessly to ensure Currawong was spared from this development,” he said. 

Mayor James said that the Minister’s decision meant that the site would no longer be considered as ‘state significant’ and that Pittwater Council would assess any future development application for the site. 

“However it’s our belief that the site should be acquired publicly and as a result fully protected from any development in the future.” 

ends 

Media contact:  David James, Pittwater Council Ph: 9970 1104

29 April 2009

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