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The buck stops with Penrith Council - The fate of the entire Cranebrook site now rests with the Penrith Councillors

Sam Haddad the Director General of the Dept of Planning has stated in writing that DoP will not override Penrith Councils planning powers. DoP has rejected IFC's proposal that DoP list the site on the Metropolitan Development Program and also declare the site State Significant Development under Part 3A of the Planning Act. DoP have handed back all responsibility for the fate of the Cranebrook site to Penrith Council and urged Council to rezone the site in Stage 2 of the draft Penrith LEP. Sam Haddad letter is here 74kb

Penrith Councillors will stand condemned forever if they back flip on their August 2008 resolution of pursuing the NSW Government to acquire the entire site for nature conservation and that the entire site be rezoned to E2 Environmental Conservation in stage 2 of the Penrith LEP.

IFC Capital Ltd lodge another revised development proposal with Penrith Council. This would require Council to back flip on its August 2008 commitment to the people of Penrith that the entire site should be protected

IFC Capital have lodged another revised development proposal with Penrith Council in a last ditch effort to get support from Council for a development outcome. This revised plan was lodged by IFC after the NSW Dept of Planning told them that it will not interfere in the planning process of Penrith Council. IFC's new proposal proposes some 450 lots to be developed and is just more of the same with only an additional 10 ha of the site being spared from development. 80 hectares of the site will be destroyed. No matter how the developers try to dress this development up as sustainable and good for the environment the fact is it never will be. It will never meet the sustainability criteria needed to get listed on the Metropolitan Development Program.

Penrith Council must not waiver from its position. The NSW Government and the Federal Government (Peter Garrett and David Bradbury) have both indicated support for the protection of the site and that they will work together with the aim that the site become a new nature reserve. Everything is in position - the funds are there to acquire the site should IFC wish to sell the land to DECC - so there is no excuse for Council not to finalise the matter by rezoning the site to E2.

IFC Capital Ltd half yearly financial report indicates the viability of their company is dependent on Penrith Council rezoning the Cranebrook land

This document is an extract from page 11 of IFC's half yearly financial report. It explains their dire financial predicament in that their financier the Bank Of Western Australia can enforce a clause in their contract and call in over $10 million of debt right now due to the fact IFC have failed to get a rezoning for the site. It goes on to say that whilst it is the right of the bank to call in the debt now that it will however give IFC until October 2009 to come good on a rezoning and to repay its debt. If IFC fails to meet its conditions then it will be forced to sell the Cranebrook land in order to repay the bank

It is fairly obvious that IFC are in deep trouble as Council will not be able to gazette Stage 2 of the Penrith LEP until well into 2010. Councils current position is not to support development of the site. Lets see if Council has integrity and delivers the protection of this important piece of Western Sydney

Another win for the people and the environment of Western Sydney

4th August 2008 - Penrith Council tonight resolved to support the community view that the entire site be protected from development and that the Cranebrook land be rezoned E2 Environmental Conservation in the new Penrith LEP. The only way development can now occur is if Frank Sartor back flips on his commitment not to over ride Penrith Councils planning powers and rezones the site for housing as State Significant Development under Part 3A of the EP & A Act 1979.

Such a move by Frank Sartor would reflect poorly on the ALP and have the effect of tarnishing his local ALP colleagues who along with Liberal and Independent Councillors assisted in achieving this conservation win.

Council passed five recommendations including pursuing the NSW Government to acquire the site from the developer and that the developer be required to properly manage the site until a time comes that they no longer own the site.

Council met with Carmel Tebbutt the NSW Deputy Premier and Environment Minister urging the NSW Government to acquire the entire site for a Nature Reserve. See Councils position paper here 54kb

Penrith Council meeting report 4th August 2008

This report is very positive however it does not go far enough. Council needs to go further and resolve to rezone the site as E2 Environmental Conservation. Council needs to commit to bringing the rezoning forward into Stage 1 of its new Penrith Local Environmental Plan (LEP)

Unfortunately there are a number of mistakes made by Council Officers in the making of this report. They have relied on erroneous information obtained by Ecological who did the Sustainability Report for the developers IFC Capital Ltd. The extent of the sites four ecological communities is wrong, as is the assertion that Castlereagh Swamp Woodland and Castlereagh Ironbark Forest are Critically Endangered Ecological Communities (they are listed as Endangered not Critically Endangered) and the report calls for the some of the endangered plants to be listed as endangered populations. Once a plant is listed on the TSC Act as endangered it cannot be listed again as an endangered population. Council has been made aware of these anomalies in the report.

Council for some reason keep referring to IFC Capital Ltd as Infracorp (their old name) The report also discusses the proposed development at Fernhill (Mulgoa)

Here is the Report

Sydney Morning Herald story - 28th July 2008

FOI'd documents reveal secret deals with developer here

More news about FOI'd documents

Documents have been obtained from the Dept of Environment and Climate Change under Freedom of Information. These documents will be released shortly on this site. One of the documents can be viewed now and it reveals Kristina Keneally's Planning Dept wrote to IFC Capital Ltd in 2006 stating that DoP had enough release areas to meet future housing needs and that the inclusion of additional sites on the Metropolitan Development Program is only likely to occur in exceptional circumstances and that the IFC proposal does not "demonstrate such exceptional circumstances". So why the back flip from the Planning Dept? What exceptional circumstances have arisen in two years that warrant an MDP listing?  See FOI'd document here  Other documents can be found here

Verity Firth the NSW Environment Minister answers questions from the NSW Greens in Parliament

Verity Firth provided a range of answers to the NSW Parliament about the Cranebrook site. The Minister was under oath and has declared that:
 

• DECC has identified the entire Cranebrook site as a Western Sydney Priority Area,
• Former Ministers Debus and Koperberg are on the record as stating protection of the entire site is a priority,
• DECC emphasised the conservation values of the ASA site in response to the draft Penrith LEP and expressed its preference for the whole site to be protected and that
• The Biodiversity Certification Order for the Sydney Growth Centres specifies that at least $530 million is to be used for biodiversity conservation and regional open space purposes. Of this amount, $397.5 million is planned for use outside the Growth Centres for the primary purpose of biodiversity conservation. The first preference for use of this funding is the protection of the Western Sydney priority areas (Cranebrook is one of DECC's Western Sydney Priority sites).

See entire document here

IFC Capital Ltd donation to Labor Party

IFC has made two separate donations to the ALP. They have donated $2500 to ALP Head Office and a further $2000 to Diane Beamer the former Assistant NSW Planning Minister. This was made at a fundraiser for Diane Beamer in late 2006 attended by by Morris Iemma the NSW Premier. This goes beyond just Ms Beamer as her office is staffed by Greg Davies the current Mayor of Penrith and Susan Page a current Penrith Councillor. Diane Beamer was the only candidate at the 2007 NSW election that IFC officially donated any money to.

Penrith Press front page story about donation here
See image of donation here
Diane Beamer donation website here

740 lots now proposed - Townhouses up to 3 storeys

IFC Capital have applied to the NSW Department of Planning (DoP), more specifically an outfit call the CEO's Land Supply Committee, to have the site listed on the Metropolitan Development Program (MDP) so the site can be declared a future urban release area. IFC have lodged a Sustainability Report with DoP supposedly addressing the necessary sustainability criteria of the Metropolitan Development Strategy. Final approval to have the site listed on the MDP rests with a decision by the NSW Cabinet. If the site is listed on the MDP then IFC Capital want the development assessed by Frank Sartor, the NSW Planning Minister, under Part 3A of the Planning Legislation as State Significant Development. If the development is declared a major development under part 3A then the Planning Minister becomes the consent authority and can rezone the site to allow urban development, the Minister does not have to take into consideration the opinion of the public or Penrith Council. This is bad.

Here is a link to maps of the new development proposal and the vegetation types recorded on the site by Western Sydney Botanist, Teresa James. Teresa, in December 2007, authored a report on the conservation significance of the Cranebrook site. The report confirms why the entire site needs to be conserved. Teresa mapped the vegetation on the site earlier in 2007 when she was employed by the NSW Dept of Environment and Climate Change to map the sites vegetation for the Biodiversity Banking trial which IFC Capital participated in but has since walked away from. You will note the extent of endangered vegetation mapped within IFC proposed development areas.

Here is the report by Teresa James Cranebrook report December 2007 - Teresa James.pdf

Penrith Council despite being sympathetic to a smaller rural type development on the site have now opposed IFC's latest plan as it removes Council from the process and makes them powerless. Several Council documents are available to download explaining the issue from Councils perspective:

Penrith Council former ASA land attachment.pdf
Penrith Council memo Air Services site 26 nov 07.pdf

March 2007

Make a comment on the Growth Centres Conservation Plan. The Growth Centres Commission has released a plan that if approved allows the NSW Environment Minister to grant biodiversity certification for the entire Growth Centres. Biodiversity certification of an area switches off the need for any further threatened species assessment at the development application stage. It is not a good outcome for the environment.

There will be huge losses of vegetation as a result of development and the plan mentions a range of mechanisms to attempt to offset these losses. One strategy is a conservation offset program which will use $530 million collected from developer levies to offset losses within and outside of the Growth Centres. 75% of this fund, some $400 million, is to be spent outside the Growth Centres acquiring high conservation value land. This presents an opportunity to use these funds to acquire sites such as the Cranebrook ASA site.

Here is a link to the Growth Centres Conservation Plan.
Here is a submission to the Growth Centres Commission  Cumberland Conservation Corridor submission.pdf 870kb explaining how the $400 million can be spent helping to establish a massive green corridor across western Sydney.

11th December 2006

Another large bushfire occurred at the old Cranebrook Air Services Australia site. Reports say the fire was started by lightning hitting a nearby house causing a fire which spread to the nearby site. A southerly wind change late in the afternoon caused the fire to spread north of the ASA site into bushland and properties. See images of Cranebrook fire here

3rd November 2006

Bob Debus the NSW Environment Minister reply  letter 3 November 2006 - Response from Bob Debus - ASA Cranebrook.pdf 13kb . He was responding to this letter about the NSW Government acquiring the site from IFC Capital Ltd. Letter to Debus - Air Services - 3 September 2006.pdf 9kb.

15 October 2006

Greens get a response from Bob Debus and Frank Sartor to questions asked about ASA Cranebrook  Greens questions and answers - NSW Environment Minister.pdf 8kb
Greens questions and answers - NSW Planning Minister.pdf 4kb

12 October 2006

Freedom of Information documents obtained from Penrith Council in regards to the rezoning application FOI'd Document - Penrith Council ASA Cranebrook rezoning - 12 October 2006.pdf 81kb

3rd October 2006

Correspondence received from Penrith Council responding to concerns about the rezoning of the site. 3rd October 2006 - Penrith Council response Cranebrook rezoning.pdf 8.34kb

29th September 2006

Investigations at Penrith Council reveal that IFC Capital Ltd officially lodged its Rezoning Application on the 15th September 2006. Council has not yet put the Rezoning Application on public exhibition.