Public meeting confirms council’s position on Callan Park

Cr. Jamie Parker - Mayor, 10 December, 2009

A large public meeting on Thursday 26 November 2009 has confirmed
and supported the position Council has taken in response to the offer by
the NSW Government as part of the Heads of Agreement and they need
to do better before Council will consider signing this agreement.

The public meeting also supported the idea that the NSW Government
needs to provide adequate funding for Council to undertake the massive
job of developing a masterplan for the entire Callan Park site including
parts that are not being transferred to Council.

It is now over 12 months since the announcement by the NSW
Government to hand over the care, control and management of parts of
the Callan Park site and we are no closer to a resolution of this matter
because of a failure by the State Government to offer adequate funding
for the transfer.

Leichhardt Council welcomed the receipt of a draft Heads of Agreement
from the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA) for the Callan
Park site granted to Council in 2008 but said the offer of $1.8 Million to
maintain the site is grossly inadequate to cover the true costs of proper
ongoing maintenance. $1.8 million is far too little funding to cover a huge
maintenance bill caused by neglect by the State Government for too many
years.

Council has committed $250,000 in the 2009-2010 budget to commence
the masterplanning process and has produced a scoping document which
is to be sent to all the various landowners/leaseholders and interested
groups such as the Friends of Callan Park. Leichhardt Council has always
strongly supported the establishment of Trust to oversee and manage the
entire Callan Park site which can only be brought into effect by NSW
State legislation.

This is a clear case of cost shifting from the State Government to the rate
payers of Leichhardt LGA who are already suffering under ill considered
projects like the CBD Metro, Iron Cove Bridge duplication and the wind
back of services at Balmain Hospital.

Leichhardt Council has also acted in good faith in negotiating with SHFA
and the State Government on providing adequate funding to maintain the
site. It is time now for the Minister for Planning and Member for Balmain
to acknowledge this by increasing the funding offered.

For more information on the Callan Park issue and to download
key documents, visit Council’s website at http://www.leichhardt.nsw.gov.au/Callan-park.html