Crown Lands Jeopardy
14 November 2016
About 42 per cent of New South Wales is Crown land and the government will review all parcels and transfer anything that is not considered of State significance to agencies like UrbanGrowth, councils and private landowners, including developers. Crown lands provide vital habitat and travel routes for endangered species, and include remnants of native vegetation in towns, beaches, and community and recreation space. We know the Fish Market site will be sold; who knows the future of the Paddington Bowling Club, given alleged mismanagement for private profit under the current regime.
State ownership of Crown land protects community access; environmental, social, heritage and cultural values; and future opportunities to reserve land. The government’s privatisation ideology is getting out of hand and I opposed the bill. My speech is HERE.
There is a community petition calling for ICAC investigation and deferral of these laws until ICAC has investigated, HERE.