James Willis, Daily Telegraph 9th December 2024 9pm (Reference HERE)
An Indigenous leader has accused Northern Beaches residents of pushing “dressed up environmental concerns” because “they don’t like us mob being developers”, during a fiery discussion about a controversial Aboriginal housing project.
The five-hour forum, held by an independent NSW Planning panel, surrounded the long-time proposal by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC) to build 450 homes on Morgan Road at Belrose.
Multiple angry speakers, one of them in tears, cited climate change, bushfires, traffic congestion, ‘feral cats and dogs’ and damage to undiscovered Indigenous artefacts as reasons why the MLALC should not be allowed to develop their own land.
During the forum, one speaker warned the housing plan ‘failed to recognise compounding risks of climate change.’
Lauren Kajewski said the project had not considered ‘extreme heat, extreme bushfire and extreme coastal storms’ and left the door open for the possibility of ‘future class actions, insurance risk, mortgage risk and risk to life.
Another resident said replacing 45 football fields of bushland with hundreds of houses would lead to ‘more feral cats and dogs.’ A separate speaker said ‘traffic congestion’ on the nearby Wakehurst Parkway would become ‘a major accident waiting to happen.’
Some locals even suggested the MLALC should be considering other ways to generate revenue from their land, and the site could even be traded with the state government in order to preserve the current bushland.
‘Surely our government can find other ways to fund the needs of the Indigenous community without submitting to this environmental vandalism’ one speaker said.
Four local members of parliament spoke against the proposal – federal MP Sophie Scamps, state independents MPs Michael Regan and Jacqui Scruby and Liberal Matt Cross.
In response to the wave of community feedback, Tina West – Chair of the Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council – accused locals of peddling ‘dressed up environmental concerns’ because ‘they don’t like us mob being developers.’
‘Self-determination through economic dependence only means something when these development projects can happen. We are not here for profits for shareholder, but achieving life improvements for our members’ Ms West said.
Nathan Moran – CEO of the MLALC told The Daily Telegraph the forum contained ‘a lot of misleading and deceptive statements’, including the ‘blissfully ignorant’ suggestion the state government was able to ‘swap’ land with Aboriginal people.
Mr Moran referenced reports which he said had satisfied concerns around potential fire risk, including a report commissioned by the MLALC, which found the development would ‘remove substantial bushfire hazards.’
The 71-hectare area, commonly known by locals as Lizard Rock, was handed back to the Indigenous community under the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act. The MLALC has been attempting to construct and sell homes on the site for 23 years, only to be sidelined by multiple state governments.
A recommendation on whether the development should proceed is expected by mid-2025.