Thank you for your article (Just blame it on the State Government) in the July 2006 edition of Sydney Observer.

Yes, the Government has become an all too convenient scapegoat for some Ku-ring-gai councillors, just as the present council is criticised by the not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) resident groups such as the Ku-ring-gai Preservation Trust (KPT), St Ives Residents Action Group (SIRAG), Friends of Lindfield and Friends of Turramurra.

The truth is that, after many efforts and warnings, the State Government used its statutory planning authority to overcome the obfuscations of the previous KPT-controlled council with a result that is far worse than that council had in it's power to determine had it handled its duties responsibly.

Now the NIMBY groups are unjustly blaming the current council for these atrocities in order to promote their prospects of contesting the next council elections. But it was these groups that enforced the failed delaying tactics used by the previous KPT council and gave the Government the reason to impose its authority. It is here that the real responsibility lies.

The wider community recognised this disaster in the making back in 2004 when it booted out the KPT from council and elected a new council to properly deal with the State Government - they are doing this and they deserve our support.