The residents of Minmi don't want it. The City of Newcastle is against it, citing a laundry list of "failures" in the planning process. And environmental groups are fighting it tooth and nail.
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The Greens Upper House member, Sue Higginson, says it is within the power of the state's planning minister to stop it, but at least as far as the state is concerned, it's going ahead.
Winten Property's 858-lot development on the western fringe of the city has never been popular among residents.
Most concerning among a litany of red flags for residents is that the project's statement of environmental effects notes that there are more than 37,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil on the site, including lead, copper, asbestos and hydrocarbons. There are concerns about whether the local road network can cope with the increased traffic. And council says the concept designs, which gained approval in 2013, no longer align with its strategy for urban development.
The Green Corridor Coalition, which is fighting to stop the development of the adjoining parcel of land at 505 Minmi Road, has previously raised concerns about potential mine subsidence in the area. And there are concerns that the development will be detrimental to the area's biodiversity, as about 150 hectares of native vegetation, including core koala habitat, will be lost including the removal of close to two thousand specimens of the critically endangered scrub turpentine tree.
At a public meeting on Saturday, June 29, mere days before a July 2 deadline to take legal action against the project, it was standing room only inside the Minmi Progress Hall.
Organisers estimated about 160 residents from across the city had come out to hear from the Lord Mayor, Nuatali Nelmes, Councillor Liz Adamczyk, former Greens councillor turned urban forest advocate Ian McKenzie, and Ms Higginson speak about the impact of the development on the local community, and whether it's possible to turn back the encroaching tide.
The Hunter Central Coast Regional Planning Panel approved Winten Property Group's residential subdivision at Woodford Street in March. The approval came despite community and council planning staff and councillors raising concerns about the project's social, environmental and infrastructure impacts.
But despite the litany of concerns, and notwithstanding the state government's powers to intervene, Ms Higginson said that turning back the approval is nevertheless a nearly insurmountable fight.
"The planning system will always favour those who have ownership of the land and have received some form of green light for development," she said, "The green light happened in 2013 with a concept plan approval. Some of us in the planning world are referring to these as 'zombie DAs'; this is an unusual DA because it never died, but it laid dormant ... until a time comes when it is more competitive and more likely that profit can be made from that development.
"Embodied in the Planning Minister's responsibilities are planning matters (that are) in the best interests of NSW. He has all those powers. He can intervene. Then, the question will come down to, 'Well, this is private land, this is a property right. Who's going to compensate that developer?'
"And that's why nobody will dare to take the political action ... Very few planning ministers have ever had the courage to say, 'we're drawing a line in the sand here'."
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has previously said there were no plans to overturn or amend the planning approval.
"The Regional Planning Panel confirmed the application is consistent with the terms of the concept approval and the approved set of Minmi Precinct Design Guidelines," a spokesman said earlier this month.
"The development application was assessed by Newcastle City Council staff and recommended for approval. The developer can now commence subdividing the land within the conditions of approval."
Notwithstanding the apparent stacked odds against the community's sentiment, residents of Minmi say they will continue in their opposition to the project, and say they were buoyed by the groundswell of local support at the weekend.
"I'm one person, but I know that I can make a difference," Mary Pianka said, "Talking is so important, especially if you feel like you're voiceless, someone's going to listen.
"Today's meeting was just incredible for me. I had tears in my eyes when there were 20 people coming through the door, but then there was, you know, maybe 100. I think we had nearly 160 here today. It really inspires me to know that my voice matters."
Former councillor Ian McKenzie, who worked in planning for 20 years both as a councillor and consultant, said the planning process at the time the concept plans were approved was weighted towards developers and lacked strategic assessment. He believes that the project should never have gained approval.
"The development lobby has had a lot of influence on legislation under the guise of providing affordable housing and providing adequate housing at affordable rates," he said, "They want to make it easier and easier (to) cut the green tape. But, as a result, you end up getting developments that are just not good for the communities.
"In my opinion, it never should have been approved. There are too many flaws. My area of concern is particularly in biodiversity, vegetation, and wildlife, and there is too much there for it to be approved. And yet there are the traffic issues, the infrastructure issues, and the contamination issues. They're all there as well.
"We're members of the community; we're amateurs. We don't have teams of professional people paid to actually put these proposals together.
"It can be revoked if there's political will. But we need to see if there is political will. I'm not confident it can be, but if it can be, it will require a massive swell of community activism to do that. Governments do listen to communities when the groundswell is big enough."
Ms Higginson, while laying out the challenges ahead, warned against discounting the community's determination to stop the project against which it is opposed.
"Communities have won fights, and it is really important to remember that it is always possible to achieve the right outcome. The science is on our side, and the goodwill of the community is on our side. But it is really difficult," she said.
Saturday's meeting was attended by residents not just of Minmi but also of the surrounding suburbs, which Ms Pianka said was inspiring support.
"The groundswell has been amazing and we need to capture that now," she said, "I'm going to go home and I'm gonna start making calls. They'll know who I am, and they will know what I want."
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen. Organisers said a representative of the developer declined an invitation to attend at the weekend.
Residents have previously called for five key developments in their case, namely:
- More protection for the environment (forest, flora and fauna, especially the endangered)
- A revised transport plan as the present road system will not cope.
- Public health - protection from the various dangerous contaminants that will be dug up and exposed to the air.
- The Planning Minister to call this in and reconsider the outdated plan.
- Winten to come to the table to change their footprint on this land
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
