COMMUNITY PETITION - to Woollahra Council from the residents and ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality

IN PROTEST AGAINST COUNCIL’S REZONING (AND PROPOSED SALE) OF COMMUNITY LAND AT 9A COOPER PARK ROAD, BELLEVUE HILL THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN COMPLETE CONTRAVENTION OF THE COMMUNITY’S WISHES A. We, the following residents and ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality, object strongly to the rezoning (and proposed sale) of Community Land at 9A Cooper Park Road, Cooper Park. This community land, which Council has sat on for 21 years when it could have been made available for use by the community, should be retained for the community and for future generations - not sold off as a short-term solution to Council’s financial woes. B. We, the following residents and ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality, object strongly to the fact that Council asked the community (including local residents) for their opinions on the rezoning and sale of this community land - and then proceeded to totally and blatantly ignore the specific wishes of and feedback from the community because they didn’t happen to agree with what Council wanted. C. We, the following residents and ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality, feel that Council/Councillors has/have not only failed to act in accordance with but have actually acted in breach of Section 232 of the ‘Local Government Act 1993’ which states that the role of a councillor is, as an elected person, to (i) represent the interests of the residents and ratepayers; (ii) provide leadership and guidance to the community; and (iii) facilitate communication between the community and the council. Only 4 Councillors at last Monday’s meeting truly represented the interests of the local residents and ratepayers. D. We, the following residents and ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality, are most upset that the sale of our community land is literally being forced upon us – completely against our wishes, which we have stated loud and clear on numerous occasions. E. We, the following residents and ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality, are of the opinion that the Council process that saw this land rezoned was not only undemocratic and specifically against the will of those residents whose opinions Council asked for, but was also based on misleading information provided to the community by Council, including in relation to site access and site contamination constraints. F. We, the following residents and ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality, object strongly to the fact that community uses for this community land were never seriously considered by Council, nor was a satisfactory process of community consultation entered into by Council – and at the most recent Council meeting substantially more discussion was centred around the options for increasing the potential level of development (and accordingly raising more money) than on what the community itself wanted. G. We, the following residents or ratepayers of Woollahra Municipality, call on the Council to rescind the motion (with respect to the rezoning of the above land) that was passed on 10 December 2012 and to engage in a true and proper process of consultation with the community to determine its best use for the benefit of the community - consistent with its status prior to Council rezoning the land without a mandate from the community.