Minister unmoved by Killalea delegation
By SARAH ALLELY
THE Government says plans for a tourism resort at Killalea State Park are too far underway to seriously consider a community request to go back to the drawing board.
The interim green ban enforced by the country's largest construction union will remain, and likely expand, after Lands Minister Tony Kelly did not commit to heed the community's concerns, said Peter Zaboyak, assistant secretary of the NSW branch of the construction division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.
Eight community representatives from the Save Killalea Alliance and the South Coast Labour Council met Mr Kelly in Sydney yesterday to present their concerns about the proposed private tourism development.
On April 30, Mr Kelly signed an agreement to lease three parcels of land to Killalea Coastal Investments, now a joint venture between Mariner Financial and Babcock & Brown.
A spokesman for Mr Kelly told the Mercury yesterday that the minister had accepted the community's request to ask the Killalea State Park Trust if it had any other fundraising ideas.
But the spokesman said Mr Kelly had made it clear that it was unlikely "given it's been going on for five years now and they hadn't been able to come up with anything".
"Someone said, `Why don't you ask Costa for more money?' And he said he would go and ask," the spokesman said. But he said it would be misleading to say the minister was reconsidering plans for Killalea.
He said Mr Kelly had told the community representatives that the likelihood of alternative options were very slim and that commitments had been made in terms of signing of the development agreement.
Yet Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris said the delegation was under the impression the minister was going to consider the request and report back to them.
Mr Rorris said he was pleased to be able to convey to the Government the depth and breadth of community opposition to the plans for the coastal park between Shellharbour and Kiama.
"He suggested we wait for the development application, but we said it was not a question of the type of DA, it's the development full stop in a state park," Mr Rorris said.
Save Killalea Alliance spokeswoman Sonya McKay said a petition with more than 1500 signatures was also handed over.
Illawarra Mercury - 15 June 2007
Return to "Killalea Media Index" Page - A list of all media articles found relating to Killalea State Park with links to the articles.
Return to "Killalea State Park Protest" Page - General information on what has been happening over recent months.
Return to Killalea Index - Additional Killalea family information.