Sandon Point Betrayed Again by Wollongong Council

Once again Wollongong Council administration has secretly colluded with Stockland to give public money for Stockland’s benefit. The secrecy is alarming as it shows nothing has changed and there is still no transparent due process at Council.  The difference this time is that the Administrators and General Manager have all been involved in “negotiations” although no reports from those negotiations have been made public.

An amount of $1,835,000 is to be approved at Tuesday’s Council meeting by the administrators.  This money is to pay for a small area zoned public open space beachfront that is a declared Aboriginal Place - and there is no obligation for Council to buy such land back from a subdivider. The land was formerly owned by Sydney Water and bought by Stockland 1998-2000 - when the Chair of Sydney Water Board was Gabrielle Kibble.  Ms Kibble is now an administrator at Wollongong City Council.

On 16 December 2008 after being caught by the community, Council decided not to go ahead with a buyback of $M4.08 for a slightly larger area of that public space, and “Illawarra Mercury” journalist Mario Christodoulou reported:

 “Sandon deal in doubt -  Council about-face on $4 mil land purchase

RATEPAYERS may be saved more than $4 million if Wollongong City Council walks away from a controversial agreement to buy Sandon Point land from developer Stockland.
The controversial arrangement was struck between the council and Stockland and endorsed by councillors in May 2007.
Objecting [Independent] councillors at the time complained the purchase was a waste of money, but were told the council had little legal option but to buy the land.

As recently as June [2008] legal advice suggested the council had no choice but to buy back the land... [but] The administrators ordered a review of the decision and, in five months, the legal advice changed.

 "It is our view such lands should be dedicated free of cost to council as a condition of an appropriate consent or major project/concept plan approval”  the advice now reads in a council report to be debated at tonight's meeting. The council now argues it was never officially party to an agreement because the contract was never exhibited or adopted. Now it claims Stockland should donate the land back to councilfor free.”

So what has changed?  Probably Stockland ran squealing back to the Planning Minister as they did in 2006 when Council received a valuation showing an $8 million dollar gain to Stockland from an access through Thomas Gibson Park, which Council had rezoned for the purpose.  That complaint to the minister was exposed by Quentin Dempster (Stateline) on 18 April 2008, in an interview with then Planning Minister Frank Sartor:

          QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Did you telephone Rod Oxley, the general manager of Wollongong, and ask him to lay off his demands on Stockland over the disputed land?
        FRANK SARTOR: Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Did you have any contact with Rod Oxley at any time on this matter?
        FRANK SARTOR: I would have referred it to Rod Oxley.
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: What do you mean referred?
        FRANK SARTOR: I would have referred it to the Council. Because I had a complaint. I had a complaint from a developer that raised concerns about the Council's behaviour and tactics and I referred it to the Council for their response. And their response back to me was, "The matter's been resolved."

It certainly was resolved:  Rod Oxley, Council’s corrupt General Manager had agreed to do a second dodgy valuation on quite different terms, which of course found Stockland only had to pay $700,000 for the access.  Secret approval was then given to Stockland to demolish the heritage Wrexham Road Bridge in October 2007; removing the public customary access to Thomas Gibson Park and Sandon Point beaches.  Oxley was later found to be corrupt by ICAC but no action has been taken against him - or against anyone else named by ICAC.

When will Sandon Point get justice?  After a decade of court action against Council, Stockland and the entire state mafia government, the community is still fighting to save this fragile coastal floodplain, heritage Turpentine Forest, beaches and wetlands of state and nationally significant cultural and natural heritage. 

Why won’t State Planning Minister Keneally recognize the recommendations of the Sandon Point Commission of Inquiry and rezone this sensitive site for environmental protection? She is supposed to uphold the Planning laws and the public interest, not the interests of corporate developers.

And why does Stockland have so much power that Wollongong Council and its administrators will hand over public money to compensate for its political donations?  This has to be the ultimate corruption - and it must be stopped now!

    Jill Walker, Bulli