By RICHARD PAYNE
Hamilton enters the Killalea development fray
DISTANCING himself from the Save Killalea Alliance, Shellharbour City Lord Mayor David Hamilton believes moderate development of the Killalea State Park would be the most beneficial result for the community.
Opposed to the State Government’s decision to sign a 52 year lease with developer Killalea Coastal Investments, Cr Hamilton has also floated the idea of an Illawarra-wide levy that would have the three local councils supplying funding for the park.
However, with the park now costing $250,000 to maintain annually, the Mayor believes the park has to become more self-sufficient lest it become too big a burden on the taxpayers.
“I differ from the alliance in the fact that I’m not anti development at all,” he said.
“The fact remains that this is the only State park without a levy and it seems the community is very insistent on it staying that way.
“For this to happen we need to look at ways of funding the area and moderate development certainly seems like a viable option at this stage.”
Pointing to the Killalea State Park Camping reserve as the possible site for the introduction of development, Mr Hamilton believes the addition of small-scale accommodation facilities such as cabins could enhance the area.
“Shellharbour City Council has already begun developing either side of the park, so this approach makes sense,” he said.
“If we want to try to improve the park then we have to look at development, although not on the same scale as the State Government has proposed.
“I believe if the residents were to see a plan for a moderate development then a lot of them would be for it. The bottom line is if we want the area to move forward we have to make it more viable because as a council we can’t afford to prop it up.”
Cr Hamilton is hoping to organise a meeting with NSW Lands Minister Tony Kelly in the upcoming weeks.
Shellharbour Lake Times - 19 September 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.