DHA development

ON BEHALF of Mt Lofty residents and Save Mt Lofty Inc, there are a lot of thank yous to hand around following DHA’s scrapping of its Mt Lofty plans.

Firstly, to Lachlan O’Sullivan and his development section at the Toowoomba Regional Council, our thanks for your patience in communicating with us as inexperienced residents and allowing us to address the full council on January 24, 2019.

Secondly, to the many Mt Lofty volunteers who letterboxed, photographed, researched, lobbied, organised media, painted signs, wrote so many letters to the editor, ran market stalls, organised international petitions and so much more. You know who you are – thanks.

At the risk of sounding ungrateful, what was the last three wasted years all about? DHA prepared and filed more than 4000 pages of documents in support of its Mt Lofty residential development – mostly from paid consultants praising the so-called masterplan. One way or another, we, the taxpayers, paid for this work.

Mt Lofty residents could never understand why our Federal Government would build 340 medium density residential lots on high bushfire risk escarpment that last burnt out on October 26, 2002.

Why would you want to bulldoze 38 hectares (76 football fields) of critical koala habitat and remove 1.5 metres of contaminated rifle range top soil for those lots.

Well, DHA thought it was a great idea for four years. Despite what he says now, John McVeigh MP thought it was a great idea for four years.

He blocked Save Mt Lofty at every turn since 2017.

Just listen to the Groom MP read straight from the DHA press release in federal parliament on February 26, 2017.

Now the challenge is to get DHA to gift the land to the TRC along with a big cheque for the necessary massive decontamination work.

Save Mt Lofty is committed to work with the Toowoomba Regional Council to develop Toowoomba’s next Queens Park at Mt Lofty.

Save Mt Lofty reckons we should call this park 25TH Battalion Park in honour of our servicemen who trained