"Yes Councillor"

The British comedy "Yes, Minister" doesn't appear to be that far from the truth as the bureaucrats of Ku-ring-gai Council appear to outwit councillors at every turn in their planning for the development of their town centres.

A computer projection of Turramurra Avenue and Gilroy Lane with a 400sqm Coles supermarket where the public carpark currently stands. Photo: Courtesy of Friends of Turramurra

With a decision on the recommended planning option for Turramurra town centre slated for the Ku-ring-gai Council meeting on December 6, many problems in the staff-preferred plan have emerged amid fears that little genuine community input has taken place. 

Many in the local community are asking questions about what "pre-conceived agenda council staff are working to," says Wahroonga resident Alan Parr. "What they are proposing seems to be totally unsupported by the community."

"It has become more and more evident that in compiling this preferred plan, staff have not drawn upon the knowledge or experience of the people who will actually be affected," says Warrawee resident Roman Koziol.

The recommended planning option for Turramurra town centre involves relocating Coles Supermarket to Turramurra Avenue (adjacent to Turramurra Uniting Church) to make way for a new leisure centre.

While there was no specific mention of a leisure centre during the community consultation phase for Turramurra, General Manager of Ku-ring-gai Council Brian Bell says there has been a "long-term expressed demand for a leisure centre in
Ku-ring-gai. Turramurra has been identified as a potential location for such a facility, with the benefit of being well-located on the rail line."

Koziol wants to know what evidence of the community's 'long-term expressed demand for a leisure centre in Ku-ring-gai' Bell is referring to.

Furthermore, a report commissioned by Council into the leisure centre will not be completed when council votes on the preferred land use options on December 6. Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Elaine Malicki says that this has "reduced our credibility as a council. I'm very uncomfortable about that. People are asking why we're spending money on a report when the outcome's been pre-judged."

Bell says the consultant's report will be "fed into the planning process."

In order to make way for the new leisure centre, council proposes to relocate the Coles supermarket in Ray Street. Publicly, Coles Myer is refusing to comment.

But Cr Malicki has revealed that in a presentation to councillors, Coles Myer expressed their preference to stay where they are presently situated. "It was quite clear from Coles' presentation that they feel their present location is the best location," she says.

Turramurra Uniting Church has been vehement in their opposition to having Coles relocated to the public car park adjacent to their grounds. The church has launched what Cr Malicki calls a "very measured" response. "When you put their response together with Coles', there's not much to support the preferred option," she says.

A Planning Committee meeting held on November 23 to discuss the plan for Turramurra town centre was "hijacked by traffic consultants and council staff," says Koziol. Councillors and residents were "steamrolled into an almost two hour discussion about traffic," he says, "ensuring there was little discussion on the broader issues concerning the preferred option."

Koziol believes the fact that those present at the meeting were told the traffic report would not be available until December 6 and that the meeting dealt in the "mumbo-jumbo of econometrics", is an "example of the contempt with which certain council staff and consultants hold residents."

Bell says that any suggestion that Ku-ring-gai Council staff are working against the community is "complete rubbish and an insult to the dedication, hard work and professionalism of all staff involved in our town centre planning process."

"Staff have had no negative feedback from any community groups on this matter," says Bell. But a half-page ad in the North Shore Times on November 30 and well over 100 letters and emails regarding Turramurra town centre sent to the mayor, suggest otherwise.

The ad, taken out by some St Ives shop owners, titled 'What is going on Ku-ring-gai Council?' calls for the New South Wales Planning Minister to "appoint a planning administrator to run this dysfunctional council."

Killara resident Tanya Wood says, "the planning staff in the last council (which left in March 2004) did make a number of valiant attempts to minimise inappropriate developments for some of Ku-ring-gai's environmentally sensitive sites." After previous councils did little in response to state government demands, Koziol feels "the pendulum has swung the other way."

Bell says, "staff have listened to issues raised by residents and have incorporated these issues in developing the proposals."

But, says Wood, "The Achilles heel of all local government is that the promotions for local government bureaucrats may lie within the ivory towers of State Government, development consultants and the like."

"Any plan put forward needs to be realistic otherwise it will delay the outcome and that may antagonise the minister. That is something that the councillors are not responsible for as we do not make the recommendations," says Cr Malicki.

"I can assure the public that this mayor has asked most of the questions the public are asking. There are certainly proposals I will not vote for," says Cr Malicki.