THE State Government’s apparent intention to sell the Plaza Crown Reserve on the foreshore of the Port Macquarie CBD to Woolworths without calling for expressions of interest has stirred up a hornet’s nest.
Both the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and the Port Macquarie Chamber of Commerce have condemned the move, issuing statements expressing their outrage.
Cr Justin Levido, council spokesperson on the foreshore, said the councillors met with two representatives of Crown Lands last week for an update on the reserve.
The reserve, in Short Street, adjoins the old Food for Less site owned by Woolworths, and Woolworths has approached Crown Lands to purchase the car park so it can incorporate it in a supermarket development.
Cr Levido said that at the meeting Crown Lands confirmed their intention to proceed with a direct sale of this public land to Woolworths, which was against the express wishes of the council.
“This is an issue of great concern to all councillors and cause for enormous community anxiety surrounding the probity and processes that have not been followed by the NSW State Government in relation to this key community asset,” he said.
Cr Levido said the council first became aware of the apparent intention to go ahead with the sale to Woolworths when staff came across a notice in the NSW Government Gazette on Friday 2 May granting a section 34A licence for site investigation over the site. This licence would enable Fabcot Pty Ltd (Woolworths’ owner) and/or their consultants to enter the land to conduct investigations related to preparation of a development application.
Cr Levido said this was stated to be part of “site sale negotiations”.
What made matters even worse was that council, which is the reserve trust manager for the reserve, was not consulted or given any notice of the grant of the licence or its publication in the NSW Government Gazette.
Cr Levido said the Minister for Regional Infrastructure Andrew Stoner and Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams had many questions to answer about the sale of the site, including why it was being shrouded in secrecy and what they knew about it.
The Port Macquarie Chamber of Commerce was equally incensed, saying they were very “disturbed”.
President Hadyn Oriti wrote to the Lands Department immediately to lodge a protest.
“I, together with the other community representatives, strongly advocated that a public process must be undertaken in relation to the expressions of interest for the site so as to identify the best proposals for the site based on the criteria of public interest and return of value to the community,” he said.
“In addition, I made the point that while it is understandable that Woolworths is an entity with whom the Crown would have discussions, having regard to the fact that it is an adjoining owner, Woolworths has no greater right to the crown reserve than any other party and there is nothing about the site that would make it an appropriate site for another shopping centre in Port Macquarie.”
Mr Oriti demanded to know what stage the draft plan of management for the foreshore had reached.
The plan in question provides for any development on the plaza car park and adjacent Food For Less old supermarket site on Short Street to be “open” to the creek, contrary to Woolworths’ plan to build a 75m-long, eight-metre-high concrete wall along the creek.
“I wish to re-iterate that if Crown Lands wishes to obtain community approval for any development, the process must be transparent,” he said.
“The chamber is concerned that the process undertaken to date, and the actions taken by Crown Lands, Woolworths and Fabcott Pty Ltd, give all the appearances of those entities being prepared to push through with a sale regardless of community concerns and without the constraints of the community-approved draft plan of management.
“If that is the case then this chamber firmly rejects that approach. The chamber supports development of the site but only in a way which is consistent with the foreshore vision and master plan developed by the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.
“The chamber does not believe that a supermarket is necessarily the highest and best use for the site.
“We call on the government to undertake a process of calling for expressions of interest for the development of the site consistently with the council’s foreshore vision and master plan. “
Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams refused to be drawn into public debate, issuing only a short statement.
“I am extremely disappointed that the Port Macquarie Chamber of Commerce representative on the Foreshore Land Advisory Group (FLAG) has chosen to write directly to a Crown Lands officer and to then publish the letter via the media without paying the courtesy of providing me with a copy of the correspondence either as the chair of FLAG or as the local member,” she said.
“At the FLAG meeting on 8 April, it was made clear that Crown Lands would take on board the issues raised about the draft plan of management and the proposed redevelopment of the plaza car park site and that Crown Lands would then report back to the next FLAG meeting.
“I am further disappointed that the chamber president has now chosen not to honour that agreed position and instead has elected to try and pressure Crown Lands through the local media.”
