PUBLISHED IN THE NEWCASTLE HERALD
UNHAPPY: Eraring Residents Association president Terry Pascoe said the site was surrounded by 14 residential properties which would be adversely impacted. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers Eraring residents have called for the NSW government to abandon plans for a new sport and recreation centre in their suburb, saying the $30 million-plus facility is ill-suited for the area's rural setting and will bring noise, traffic, lighting and environmental impacts. Last month, the government proposed an amendment to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Infrastructure) which, if approved, will allow the project to be assessed as a State Significant Development. A sports centre is not a permissible development under the site's E4 Environmental Living zoning and having the project assessed as an SSD will negate the need to rezone the land. The government says the pathway will allow the facility to be delivered within a shorter timeframe than if the the site had to be rezoned.
Adjacent residents received no written notification about the SEPP amendment and have scrambled to lodge objections over the past week. The submission period closes on Wednesday.
"If that gets through we've got no option, we're only shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic," Eraring Residents Association president Terry Pascoe said.
The government unveiled the 17.5-hectare parcel of Origin Energy-owned land for the new centre in July.Mr Pascoe said the site was surrounded by 14 residential properties which would be adversely impacted.
"The Myuna Bay centre is a kilometre away from most residents with tolerable noise dampened by a substantial buffer zone. The proposed centre will be bounded by dwellings," he said.
Mark Power, an adjacent landowner, said he bought his property four years ago because it and the surrounding properties were zoned environmental living. He said he had invested "a lot of time, energy and money" into refurbishing the property on the basis of "creating a lifestyle" to enjoy. "It's going to detract from the lifestyle that we were expecting," he said. "Traffic, noise, the deterioration of the environment. "It's a fairly relaxed sort of area here, you get a lot more people and you'll wonder if it's as good as it used to be." The association's submission outlines a variety of concerns, including whether Origin can legally dispose of the site given it is part of an environmental buffer zone around the power station. "The Environmental Impact Statement which permitted the construction of the Eraring Power Station made specific reference to the ecological significance of the salt marsh areas [and] emphasises the importance of creating as little disturbance as possible to the foreshores of Lake Eraring," it says. "It is reasonable for the public to expect the NSW government would be cognisant of the requirements." Mr Pascoe said the shallow Lake Eraring, which would be used water activities, was not suitable for swimming. "You wouldn't let a brown dog swim in Lake Eraring," he said. "It's a classic wetland, and while you might be able to paddle a kayak on it, if inexperienced kids fell out ... it has got metres of ooze in it. "That's why it's a state significant wetland." The proposed centre includes accommodation for staff, students and sporting groups, rectangular and oval fields, a beach volleyball court, multi-purpose court, hall and swimming pool. Residents believe the facilities will be leased when not in use for school camps, further increasing traffic on roads "barely adequate" for current vehicle movements. "Additionally, the comings and goings of sporting teams at training times and competition events will greatly increase the risks to residents who are frequent morning and evening walkers and cyclists," the submission says. Residents have met with Office of Sport and Origin Energy officials on multiple occasions, but Mr Pascoe said residents had to prompt the talks to seek information. The association has tried to point the government towards other land, including on the Morisset Peninsula. An Office of Sport spokesman said the government "seeks and welcomes feedback" but was "committed to building" at the site. "The Office of Sport believes the issues raised by ERA can be addressed during the design process and has given ERA a commitment there will opportunities for close consultation during the design process," he said. Mr Power said there was "significant room for improvement" welcomed in regards to community consultation from government bureaucrats, politicians and current land owner Origin Energy. "It just seems like they've done deals to get people out of awkward situations," he said. "And the people who live in this area are going to be the ones to bear the brunt of it. "We're probably just not that important in the larger scheme of things." Residents opposed to the facility, which is replacing the Myuna Bay centre that controversially closed last year, have also criticised the government for a lack of consultation before and after unveiling the site and for pursuing an assessment pathway that overrides local planning controls.
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