The Infidel Diaries

First it was a Skate park that was deferred until after the September elections, now a major and far less popular development has been delayed -

Brick pit overshadows poll

The proposed development of Kirrawee brick pit could cast a long shadow over September’s local government elections as a council staff assessment of the project may not be completed until after the ballot.

A community campaign opposing the development – which is to include two supermarkets, smaller shops, possibly a bank, 65 apartments and a park – has raised fears for the future of the Kirrawee shopping strip.

Miranda MP Barry Collier backed the owners of the site in their claim the development could revitalise the Kirrawee strip.

St George and Sutherland Shire Leader – 10/07/2008

Of course he would back the developers, “yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” as somebody once said. Barry Collier and the ALP are a good example of how the left hand knoweth not what the right hand doeth. He was advising home owners in his electorate that the F6 would not go ahead. Those same owners found out that Treasurer Michael Costa was indicating ( in 2004 ) the F6 will “probably” be built without bothering to inform Collier -

On 15 March 2004 the Minister for Roads, Mr Costa, overturned, without notice, a decision made in September 2002 by the previous Minister to abandon the F6 freeway.

[...]

The latest F6 motorway proposal is having a catastrophic impact on house prices along its route. Families have made investments—buying new homes and renovating existing homes on or near the corridor—that are being undermined. It is reported that one house dropped in value by $100,000 following Mr Costa’s unexpected announcement. Families that have built and renovated their homes on or near the corridor now face a bleak future. The impact of freeways on individual house prices is often lost in these sorts of debates. Freeways can have a dramatic impact on the lives of individuals and families, as has been demonstrated in my electorate. My constituents rely on this Government to abandon the F6 freeway.

NSW Hansard, 5 April 2005.

However the issue isn’t the ineptitude of the NSW ALP, its the fact that an important decision is being delayed until after the election. It looks like the newly elected councilors will have their work cut out for them. Given the unpopularity of the brick pit re-development, I’d say there may be a few incumbents looking for a new hobby.

What should really happen to the brick pit site is that it should be turned into green space. There are many units in the area and those residents would benefit from having a large park nearby. The site already has a large body of water in it that attracts various water birds and other wild life, the site could easily be rehabilitated into a picnic/park area with plenty of bushland for people to explore, feed the ducks etc. Instead we’ll end up with an unsightly extension to the concrete jungle that will ruin the small business’ in the Kirrawee high street and as well as affecting business’ in nearby Gymea and Sutherland.

View of the Kirrawee brick pit site. – kirraweebrickpit.com

For more information on the Kirrawee brick-pit and to sign a petition against the development, visit the “Stop the Kirrawee brick pit shopping development” website.

General development