Latest Currawong information
2009 Pittwater Volunteer Awards Winners
The Friends of Currawong are delighted that our President, Shane Withington, and three of our committee members, Ken Hughes, Sue Martin and Michael Mannington have been recognised for their contribution to the community in the 2009 Pittwater Council Volunteer Awards.
Union sale on the waterfront sinking under heritage order
Matthew Moore Urban Affairs Editor
- May 9, 2009
- Sydney Morning Herald
THE State Government's decision last week to block a plan for 25 luxury villas at Currawong on Pittwater is set to scuttle the union movement's $15 million sale of the site it has always insisted was "unconditional".
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Currawong Documents
Download the released Government documents
Director General's Environmental Assessment
Director General's Requirements
Final DG Assessment 29 April 09
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!!!
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There will be NO 25 lot gated community built on beautiful Currawong Beach.
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There will be NO dumping of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of infill on beautiful Currawong Beach.
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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:
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purchased by the Government
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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
“This result demonstrates that when the community unites in a just cause, no matter how gloomy the outlook – people power can prevail”
Piers Akerman
Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 08:03am
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.
Development binned, new heritage status
29 April 2009
Architecture & Design
The NSW planning minister Kristina Keneally has today refused planning for a residential development at beach north of Sydney and given the entire site heritage status, amid doubts about the sustainability of the project.The pristine beach location raised uncertainties over the sustainability of the project, which would have allowed a 25 lot residential subdivision at Currawong Beach.
The site lies below the one in 100 year flood level and is subject to inundation from the creek and shoreline recession from Pittwater, Keneally said.
“While it would be technically possible for the valley floor to be developed, it would not be justifiable considering the susceptibility of the site to shoreline recession and flooding during high tides or storms,” she said.
Problems with the project application itself also led to the refusal of the application. An unacceptable visual impact on neighbouring historic workers’ cottages, insensitivity to the Aboriginal archaeological sites and the historic workers cottages, inadequate parking and problems with the proposed method of wastewater disposal, were cited as “not adequate” by the minister.
The heritage listing will ensure that the buildings receive a minimum standard of maintenance and direct any future development applications to the NSW Heritage Council.
Keneally said that in light of her decision, the process to rezone the site and declare it as State significant would not progress.
“Considering that this development application has been refused, I have decided that any zoning issues may be resolved by Pittwater Council through the comprehensive local environmental plan process.”
“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."
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
SMH 29 April
The State Government has blocked a development proposal to build 25 luxury houses at a site owned by Unions NSW in the national park at Pittwater and put the whole area on the State Heritage Register.
After a 12-year campaign to save the historic holiday cottages at Currawong within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park on Pittwater's western shore, the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, revealed yesterday she had refused the application to subdivide the site to allow residential development. At the core of Ms Keneally's decision was concern about the plan to dump huge quantities of fill onto the site to build houses on low-lying land around a creek prone to flooding.
MEDIA RELEASE 31 March 2009