Tuesday, October 29, 2013

ACT NOW - Crown Lands Amendment (Multiple Land Use) Bill 2013



DANGER -  ALIENATION OF CROWN LAND RESERVES - ACT TODAY

Please write or phone Upper House Members of Parliament:


The Premier of NSW (premier@nsw.gov.au)
The Hon Tim Owen    newcastle@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Leader of the Opposition LOP@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Shadow Minister  Luke.Foley@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon. Robert Brown robert.brown@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon. Robert Borsak  robert.borsak@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon Fred Nile F.Nile@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon Paul Green paul.green@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon. Jeremy Buckingham jeremy.buckingham@parliament.nsw.gov.au


WHAT IS THE ISSUE? 

Crown Lands Amendment (Multiple Land Use) Bill 2013 is now before the NSW Legislative Council (Upper House).

This Legislation will give the Minister and his delegate controlling Crown Lands the power to alienate the lands with extra uses without notification. The meagre safeguard of public notification and management principles in the current Act will be bypassed.

The changes further weaken the current Crown Lands Act and deny the public protection of Public Reserves and should be rejected. It will only clear the way for clandestine corruption.

PLEASE REJECT THIS BILL


FURTHER BACKGROUND  - ALIENATION OF CROWN LAND

There is currently before the NSW parliament a bill to amend the Crown Lands Act. It has passed the Lower House and will be debated in the Upper House on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The amendment allows the Minister to override the dedication of the land and grant a lease without the present constraints of the Act.

Presently, the Minister has the power to grant a lease for purposes that are contrary to the dedication of the land but the lease has to be gazetted and subjected to parliamentary scrutiny.

These checks and balances will be removed if this bill is passed.

Crown Land will no longer be protected.

It will allow the effective sell-off and commercialisation of some of the most important and prominent pieces of real estate in NSW.

It is done under the guise of protecting the validity of existing leases. This is a nonsense!!
Scout halls, kiosks, surf clubs are valid community uses of public land and are hardly likely to be challenged. This is a grab by the state government for precious public land that is supported by many cash strapped Councils who can see a cheap and easy option to make money out of crown land.

Friends of King Edward Park Inc. have been fighting for 2 years in the courts to protect publicly dedicated land in NSW against development that is contrary to its dedication and to preserve the Headland Reserve. This has been acknowledged in the Land and Environment Court as a test case with merit. The introduction of the amendment neatly absolves the Minister of his liabilities.

Don’t let this bill pass through parliament. Put your objection in an email today. Preserve our precious public spaces for future generations. Use the points above if you can for your email or forward the attached form letter.

Doug Lithgow
President of the Parks and Playgrounds Movement
A Freeman of the City of Newcastle