NEED FOR PUBLIC ENQUIRY - 21 August 2003

The Friends of Tumblebee - Resident's Action Group - are asking for a Public Enquiry into the Tomalpin Industrial Estate.

Our concerns raise questions, not only about the Estate itself, but also about the manner in which the Estate was rezoned.

The following points raise legitimate questions about the rezoning process.

1. There have been no studies which did not assume that the industrial development was to take place.

2. We believe the consultant engaged by Cessnock Council to "facilitate the Estate and assess all submissions by the public and State Agencies under the EPAA Act" was obliged by his contract to recommend the rezoning to Cessnock Council. The Consultant's contract reads in part……. "The draft LEP……..are processed and adopted / gazetted in accordance with the time line for the project". Was Cessnock Council really in a position to make an objective decision to recommend the rezoning to the Minister for Planning?

3. Cessnock Council has spent public money advertising the Estate as being 'fully serviced' and as having 'lots available' when these things were not, and still, are not true.

4. The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources (DIPNR) has now released the Thornton-Killingworth Sub Regional Strategy in which between 4000 and 5000ha of degraded 'brownfields sites' are being considered for industrial development. We congratulate the State Government on focusing on 'brownfield sites' however this Strategy raises the question of why the Tomalpin site, with 28 threatened species on site (more than most National Parks), was ever rezoned in the first place!