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 Welcome to the Save Cranebrook Website
The old Air Services Australia Site, Northern Rd, Cranebrook
No Development of this land

The best way to look after the Cranebrook site is if it is put in the hands of the NSW Dept of Environment and Climate Change to be protected and managed as part of their National Parks Reserve System.

This will mean a proper  management plan for the site, a fire hazard regime, proper fencing to restrict illegal access to the site, funding for ongoing management and to enhance the sites existing conservation values and legislation to prosecute.

Don't listen to anyone that argues that developing the site will benefit the community and stop illegal access to the site. They are obviously in cahoots with the developer.


  

News: Cranebrook Developer IFC Capital Ltd donates to former Planning Minister Diane Beamer. Possible link to ALP and Penrith Council revealed. Find out more here

Important update: IFC Capital Ltd have lodged a new development proposal with the NSW Government. They have bypassed Penrith Council and gone straight to the Planning Minister Frank Sartor and applied to have the site listed on the Metropolitan Development Program and assessed as State Significant Development which if allowed means Frank Sartor becomes the sole consent authority and can rezone the site for development with little or no input from the local community or Penrith Council.

The new IFC proposal will now be a massive overdevelopment of the site. They have scrapped plans for a 180 lot rural subdivision and now propose:

  • 84 hectares of residential land catering for 610 – 740 lots down to 350 square metres with detached housing, and other forms of housing including three storey town houses

  • 1800 residents

  • 8 hectares of storm water and flood mitigation

  • 89 hectare conservation area

A new 18 megabyte movie has been added explaining the latest situation. We may send this to Stateline. See it here. There is also a YouTube version which is a smaller file size.

A new conservation report by Teresa James compiled in December 2007 again highlights the importance of conserving the entire site. This latest botanical information has been sent to Frank Sartors Planning Dept.

Verity Firth the Assistant  NSW Environment Minister recently conferred Biodiversity Certification on the Sydney Growth Centres. There have been conditions attached to this approval including how the proposed $530 million conservation fund is to be spent protecting bushland outside the Growth Centres. The entire Cranebrook site has been identified as a Western Sydney Priority Area for conservation and Verity Firths conditions state first preference is to be given to using Growth Centres funding to acquire the identified priority areas. This information is extremely important as any decision by Frank Sartor to allow development of the site is now directly at odds with Verity Firth and the NSW Dept of Environment and Climate Change. The NSW Government will be seen to be a pack of hypocrites if they don't uphold the promises made in conferring Biodiversity Certification on the Growth Centres. DECC must stand up to Frank Sartor. See the Biodiversity Certification conditions here (Section 32) and the map showing the Western Sydney Priority Areas here 522 kb

Follow this link to find the latest info (maps and documents) on the amended development proposal and actions to conserve the site.

Bob Debus, the former NSW Environment Minister, states in this letter that protection of the entire Cranebrook site is a 'priority'.

Email Frank Sartor to oppose any development of the Cranebrook site office@sartor.minister.nsw.gov.au

 

Federal Election 2007 information Here

The Sydney media have picked up on the controversy surrounding the Cranebrook development. See the Daily Telegraph story below here and an earlier story from the Sydney Morning Herald here.

 

The information below is now partly out dated but still relevant

The former 181-hectare Air Services Australia Site at Cranebrook was sold by the Federal Government in October 2004 to a property developer called IFC Capital Ltd. The Federal Government were condemned at the time because of the secretive nature of the sale and because of a lack of community consultation. The sale was dubbed the ADI Site Mark 2 because of the similarities with the ADI Site development debacle. There also appeared to be inadequate environmental surveying of the site by the Federal Government leading up to the sale. IFC Capital Ltd (then called Infracorp) paid only $15 million plus GST for the entire site. 

IFC Capital Ltd commenced discussions with Penrith City Council in 2005 as they need to get the land rezoned by Council to allow housing development. Council appears to have been working closely with the developer assisting them with their rezoning application. IFC have since completed a range of site assessments, required by Council, and they have lodged a rezoning application with Council so that they can develop a total of  85 hectares of the site for what they are calling 'E4 Environmental Living'. E4 Environmental Living, as described by the NSW Department of Planning,  is generally intended for land with special environmental or scenic values where residential development could be accommodated. 

The developers proposal includes setting aside 78 hectares of the site for conservation. Levies collected from land sales will go towards a fund which the landowners are meant to use to manage the bushland. This appears like green gloss to lull Penrith Council and the NSW Government into supporting the development. One questions the merits of this proposal as it is doubtful future landowners would have the will or the management skills to properly care for bushland of such conservation value. 

The site has immense conservation value and should not be developed in any way. The site should be returned to public ownership. The land should be acquired by the NSW Government and put into the management of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service so that conservation and passive recreation outcomes can be achieved for the community. A possible source of funding could come from the  Growth Centre Commission which proposes a conservation fund of $530 million to offset the loss of bushland that is proposed to be cleared for development within the Growth Centres. Information about the Growth Centres Conservation Plan can be found here 1278kb. This document proves that the NSW Government is wanting to conserve areas of high conservation value outside of the Growth Centres and that there will be funds to do this. We now need them to show some political will.

Getting the entire site acquired and properly protected is a priority but as the State is crying poor at the moment they appear reluctant to act. An alternative proposal has been proposed that the Federal Government should offer a no interest loan to the State to urgently acquire the site. The loan can be repaid when the State has enough funds in the Growth Centres Conservation Fund.

The Cranebrook Site is an important link in a conservation corridor linking bushland south of the ADI Site through to the Blue Mountains. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service oppose the rezoning of the site because of its immense Natural and Aboriginal Heritage values and because it is part of this important corridor. Penrith Councils draft LEP Flora and Fauna Conservation 1999 shows that the entire Cranebrook site is classified as a conservation corridor. So why are they now contemplating allowing housing on the site?

Penrith Council must stop pandering to IFC Capital Ltd and reject their rezoning application. Penrith Council must work with local residents to lobby the NSW and Federal Governments to buy back the site and ensure it is properly managed and protected. Penrith Council must do the right thing and put local residents and the environment first.

The Cranebrook site is very significant bushland but like most unmanaged bushland in Western Sydney it suffers at the hands of people who use the site to ride motorbikes, drive 4WD's, illegally dump rubbish, light fires, collect firewood and participate in other anti social activities. It is in desperate need of fencing and proper management. It is complete nonsense for anyone to argue that bulldozing the site is the best way to stop this anti social behaviour. 

  What the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation said  about the Cranebrook Site when it wrote to Penrith Council urging Council to rezone the site for conservation:

"Based on the assessments that have been undertaken to date it is clear that the site has significant biodiversity and Aboriginal heritage values.  The DEC considers that those values must clearly drive any future decisions regarding the site.

Having regard to those values, the DEC is of the firm view that the site has virtually no development potential.  Given the identified
conservation values and its size, shape, and current and likely future surrounding land uses, the protection of the entire site is therefore considered essential to maintaining its ecological integrity and the protection of Aboriginal heritage.

The DEC therefore considers that strong preference should be given to ensuring that the LEP delivers protection for the site as a whole. Options to achieve this outcome will obviously need to be the subject of further discussion.  However, the DEC is not convinced that simply because the land has passed into private ownership that this in itself provides clear justification for making the site available for development".

Draft Growth Centres Conservation plan.pdf 1278kb

National Trust of Australia (NSW) submission to Penrith City Council link

Nature Conservation Council of NSW submission to Penrith City Council 75kb