When approval for the Huntlee New Town residential estate near Branxton was overturned by a court in October 2009, it was widely believed that the decision was more of a comment on Labor’s ‘‘land bribe’’ planning laws than it was on the project itself.
The expectation at the time was that the developers would resubmit their plans under amended planning laws, with approval more likely than not somewhere down the track.
Now, nearly two years later, Huntlee has found itself on the end of another defeat in the NSW Land and Environment Court, and again the court has taken aim at the former Labor government’s planning laws, which were overhauled – and the controversial Part 3A regime repealed – last month by the new government.
While the Minister for Planning, Brad Hazzard, Huntlee’s owner LWP Property and the case victors, the Sweetwater Action Group, were still digesting the detail of Justice Peter Biscoe’s 80-page decision last night, Mr Hazzard’s short public statement described the concerns of the public – and the Coalition while in opposition – as ‘‘spot on’’.
Yesterday’s decision appears to overturn the residential zonings applied to Huntlee in Labor’s planning process, meaning the former coalmine site will again be zoned as rural land.
This is not necessarily the end of the matter. Action group spokesman and Cessnock councillor James Ryan agreed last night that the developers can still use the new Coalition planning laws to apply again for rezoning and approval.
But Huntlee was always about more than suspect planning laws. While the Hunter will undoubtedly need new greenfields estates to help meet the expected population surges in coming decades, Huntlee’s critics argued from the start that the 7000-plus lot development was too big, and in the wrong place.
Neither side of this argument will be disposed to give up, meaning the new Coalition planning regime could be in for a testing time.
Festival funding
NEWCASTLE City Council, like other councils, will always be called on to fund more services than it is able to afford.
And there is no reason to say an event funded by the council should expect that help in perpetuity. But there is something sadly predictable about the council’s decision to stop funding the This Is Not Art festival, which has done more than its share to help put Newcastle back on the literary and arts map in recent years.
TINA, as the festival is popularly known, has run on the smell of an oily rag since it began in 1998, attracting hundreds of performers and thousands of visitors.
The organisers need about $18,000 to fund this year’s events and have just two or so weeks to come up with the money.
Given TINA’s importance, it is disappointing the council is unable to provide ongoing financial support.
It is to be hoped that an alternative funding source can be found to help ensure the survival of a true Hunter Valley grass-roots success story.
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