Friday, 12 March, 2010
By Brad Ryan (The Cairns Post)
PALM Cove residents have criticised area councillor Julia Leu and Mayor Val Schier after learning the pair was emailed notification of a controversial public housing plan in December.
Residents say the councillors should have alerted the community and done more to stop the State Government “sneaking in” the development. But both councillors said they did not recall seeing the email, sent by the council’s head planner Peter Tabulo, containing sketches of the development and a State Government letter advising it “will progress to construction”.
Cr Leu said she had also voted against a similar development proposed for the Harpa St site earlier in the year. Council records show she voted against a proposal for a similar multi-unit building on the site at Cairns Regional Council’s August planning and environment meeting. An alternative motion moved by Cr Leu argued it was too high, its setbacks were too small and not enough parking was provided.
Cr Robert Pyne was the only other councillor to vote against the development. The site has since been sold to the State Government for the 18-unit public housing project for $1.35 million.
A group of residents staged a protest on the site after excavation work began yesterday. They have been lobbying against the project, saying it is inappropriate for the holiday resort area. Residents’ committee member Kate Dewar said residents felt “kept in the dark and lied to” after learning the councillors were sent the details last year.
Under state law, public housing projects only go through public consultation if they are considered “substantially inconsistent” with local planning schemes.
Cr Leu said she did not know about the development until contacted by The Cairns Post last month, and Cr Schier said she could not recall seeing the email.
Both said the State Government should have notified residents. ”I get up to 150-200 emails a day and the nature of these emails are that some of them get missed, and this one wasn’t flagged to me as being of high importance,” Cr Leu said.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/03/12/98861_local-news.html
