08 November 2007
The Land and Environment Court has caught Ashfield Council misusing heritage rules to block the expansion of a local school, according to Aaron Gadiel, Chief Executive of the NSW Urban Taskforce .
Ashfield Council had blocked plans by Trinity Grammar to build a swimming pool, a new hall, extra classrooms and underground parking. The court has intervened and overturned this decision instead giving the development the green light.
The schools proposal involved the demolition of 11 houses already owned by the school. It was blocked by the council, partly on heritage grounds.
This is a stinging rebuff for Ashfield Council, Mr Gadiel said.
Senior Commissioner Dr John Roseth said that the council and resident opposition could only be explained by their long-standing frustration and animosity in the relations with the school.
The Council had relied on the presence of several heritage conservation areas surrounding the site to refuse the development application. It also relied on its plans to declare a new heritage conservation area covering school property.
The court refused to accept the councils argument that the development would have an unacceptable impact on the existing heritage conservation areas.
The Court also dismissed council claims that 11 houses should not be demolished because they were ˜suitable for a heritage conservation area, Mr Gadiel said.
This saga has going on for 20 months. The application was lodged in March 2006. It took the council 13 months to decide to refuse the application, and another 7 months for the court appeal to be dealt with.
This is only the latest attempt by councils misusing the States heritage laws to block well planned urban development.
Last month efforts by Parramatta Council to heritage list up to 12 ordinary 1960s and 1970s homes in Toongabbie and Epping were widely reported in the media.
Last year, the Land and Environment Court found that an apartment building had been listed as a heritage item by North Sydney Council didnt satisfy the listing requirements.
Despite the ruling, the building is still listed by the council as heritage protected.
Heritage laws are being heavily misused by the ˜not-in-my-backyard (nimby) brigade working hand-in-glove with some local councils.
It is time these laws were reformed to stop their blatant misuse, Mr Gadiel said.
The decision was handed down by yesterday. It is formally cited as The Council of Trinity Grammar School v Ashfield Municipal Council.
The NSW Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing NSWs most prominent and important developers, builders and property financiers. The NSW development industrys annual turnover is $35 billion and employs 180,000 people, accounting for six percent of the States total employment. It is the fifth largest contributor to the State economy.
Media Enquires:
Aaron Gadiel,
Chief Executive Officer,
Phone: 0417 477 904 or (02) 9238 3955
