Approval of Calderwood must be annulled

** MEDIA RELEASE **

Tuesday February 1, 2011 - State election candidates for the Greens and the Socialist Alliance today issued a joint call for the annulment of the Calderwood development approval, that was granted by the NSW government under Part 3A last month.

Greens candidate for Shellharbour, Peter Moran stated:

"The Calderwood development is an environmental and planning disaster in the making.

"It is apparent that Planning Minister Tony Kelly has learnt nothing from the experience of Queensland families who built their homes and futures on flood plains. The filling of a flood plain can be expected to increase the incidence of flooding in Albion Park, as well as increasing runoff into Lake Illawarra.

"Every one of the 200,000 semi trailer loads of fill travelling down the main street of Albion Park will be a reminder to residents of just how inappropriate this development is.

"To lose prime agricultural land for the sake of increasing a developers profits is a crime against the future.

"This approval flies in the face of the Governments Illawarra Regional Strategy and the government's own studies which show this area has enough developed, serviced and approved land releases to serve our needs for the next 6 years, by which time the West Dapto release will be going full steam ahead.

The ratepayers of Shellharbour will be required to subsidize this development to the tune of $2 million per annum according to Shellharbour Council. This will be an albatross hanging around the neck of the Shellharbour community.

Part 3A of the EP and A Act allows politicians to foist these unsustainable developments on communities all across the state. Shame on the ALP and the coalition, who both voted for it.

Jess Moore, Socialist Alliance candidate for the NSW Legislative Council, added:

"Rarely do we see such widespread opposition to a single development. The ALP has once again used Part 3A to run roughshod over our community.

"Developer profits have been put ahead of community need.

"Parts of this land are seriously flood prone. The idiocy of developing floodplains speaks for itself. But worse still is that plans to fill in and develop the floodplains will also increase the risk of floods impacting homes in surrounding areas.

"Calderwood is too far from adequate supporting infrastructure. The cost to the local community to service it will be immense.

"The land involved in this development is of high conservation value. It is also among the highest grade

agricultural land in the Illawarra. It shouldn't even be considered for housing. The community needs to decide what parts should be simply conserved and what parts should be used for food production.

"It's been identified that this absurd development is not even needed for the supply of housing in the Illawarra.