Court Overrules Minister : Climate Change Must be Considered

NSW Greens MP and Planning spokesperson Sylvia Hale has welcomed a decision of the Land and Environment Court to overturn Ministerial approval of a resort development at Sandon Point near Wollongong.

The Court found that Planning Minister Frank Sartor and the Director-General of Planning failed to give consideration to the possible effects of climate change on changing sea levels and flood risks for the coastal development.

In the decision in Walker v Minister for Planning Justice Biscoe found that:

The Illawarra Greens supported the Sandon Point ‘Picket on the Move’ today, in their visit to Heathcote MP Paul McLeay’s office in Engadine.

Greens Candidate for Heathcote Jill Merrin said, “since the Sandon Point picket was burnt down last year, campaigners have formed a ‘Picket on the Move’, which has taken the campaign to Parliament, to the streets and now to the office of the Member for Heathcote.

Shortly after the Illawarra Greens called for the $9 million donated by Stockland developers to be diverted to community projects, the NSW Government has announced that it will give the go-ahead to the massive Sandon Point development.

Just before Christmas 2006, Planning Minister Frank Sartor stated that he had approved the Stockland and Anglican Church developments, which have been the subject of more than a decade of protests and six years after a picket and Aboriginal tent embassy were set up on the site.