Eastern Shore community was left in the dark over Rosny plan

Planning laws are so weak, Rosny Hill Friends had no way to appeal, says Beth Rees

CLARENCE City Council Mayor Doug Chipman states that the proposed development of a hotel on Rosny Hill was discussed by the council since 2011 (Letters, January 27).

If that is the case, this is further evidence of the secrecy that surrounds much of the decision-making of Clarence City Council.

Much of the council’s work on this project has been covert, buried in agendas under vague headings or embedded in plans and thus difficult to find. The 2010 Strategic Plan is one such document.

The community was not surveyed nor informed when the council employed a property consultant in 2012. A local community group was given a copy of the Expressions of Interest, with significant pages missing, in 2014.

Launching the EOI process in 2014, Alderman Chipman announced the council was considering a development similar to that on Mount Nelson. The community welcomed this proposal.

In 2015 it was announced that architect Robert MorrisNunn and Hunter Developments were the preferred developer, and the suggested tearooms and viewing area had morphed into several restaurants and a 120-room hotel.

In 2018 an information session was held at the Rosny Library. The community questions were neither acknowledged nor published.

While the Mayor maintains that a hotel on Rosny Hill will bring great benefit to the community, the general manager has stated that a ratepayers’ cost-benefit analysis is not necessary.

Despite a petition of 1500 Clarence ratepayers, the council resisted the request for a public meeting on the grounds that the petitions were a mix of electronic and paper submissions. A further petition of 1200 electronic signatures forced the council to hold a public meeting.

The development application was withdrawn before the 2018 council election, and reappeared after the election with a reduced number of hotel rooms, but

essentially the same footprint – more than 300m long, dominating the view of the hill, and impinging on the peaceful tracks among the natural vegetation of the hillside.

During the appeal process before Resource Management and Planning Appeals Tribunal (RMPAT), evidence submitted by Rosny Hill Friends Network highlighted deficiencies in the original development application and council assessment.

Rosny Hill Friends Network did not consent to the DA, but accepted that better protection of the native grasslands and threatened species was the best that could be achieved under the limitations of the planning scheme and RMPAT responsibilities.

Traffic and noise issues continue to be a cause of great concern. However, these grounds of appeal were withdrawn from the appeal process because the planning laws are so weak that they provided no strong grounds on which we could appeal.

In total the extent of the hotel complex, carparking and modification for bushfire protection etc. will occupy at least 16 per cent of the Rosny Hill Nature Recreation Area.

We have been unable to discover the actual extent of the area to be leased.

Meanwhile, Environment and Parks Minister Roger Jaensch, who is ultimately responsible for the Rosny Hill Nature Recreation Area, has maintained a deafening silence.

Transparent engagement? I don’t think so.