Clover Bulldozers Residents on Path
MEDIA EVENT -– 7.15 AM PROTEST -- 30 MARCH 2009 -
– WOOD STREET, FOREST LODGE
Three City of Sydney Councillors and more than 30 local
residents will be stagingwill join angry residents in stagin
staging the g a protest at the Orphan School Creek Gully,
Wood Street, Forest Lodge at 7.15am on Monday, 30 March
2009.
The occupation of the this site has been ongoing for over a
week and police have had to physically remove protesters.
The week long occupation of the site, which has seen police physically remove
protesters, was sparked when At the final hour, the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney,
Clover Moore, used her casting vote to bulldoze residents concerns along with their
native bushland.
The mayor’s decision has reneged on an approved DA for a large space of public land in
Forest Lodge near Glebe in Sydney and has lead to . She used her casting vote to ensure
earth moving work would start on the site. In so doing she has bulldozed residents
concerns and substituted trees with concrete.
an extraordinary general meeting of Council being called at 1pm Monday.
The issue will be the subject of an extraordinary general meeting of Council at 1pm
Monday and residents will demand an inquiry into the process.
Located on the grounds of the former Camperdown children’s hospital, the Orphan
School Creek Gully has been ear-marked as native habitat for over 10 years. The DA of
August 2007 approved this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and promised a forest and
native bushland. Instead the council has jeopardised this vision by suddenly changing the
plans to include a 130 metre, concrete, zigzag path through its very heart.
According to young mother and community spokesperson, Michela Noonan: “We
demand an inquiry in this process."”
"“\
The Lord Mayor and IIndependent Tteam have been claiming green credentials and
saying they’ll support the native habitat plan, but now they want to carve it up with
concrete.”
"“It seems the Mayor and the Council just ignores community’s concerns. Council never
showed anyone the plans with these massive changes. When we found out about it we
immediately contacted them. A meeting of council resolved to investigate the issue last
November but instead they just ignored us for three months and then started building the
path”.
“The Lord Mayor's Clover Moore’s decision to bulldoze the Wood Street site and then
not re-forest the area is againstflies in the face of what the Council’s commitment. the
DA promised. We had a whole forest of trees that were destroyed because we believed
we were getting something better. Now we are not getting that forest back”.
“For years the Lord Mayor and Independent Team have been claiming green credentials
and saying they’ll support the native habitat plan, but now they want to carve it up with
concrete.”
“To not inform of us of these massive changes is terrible. Then to ignore our concerns is
a disgrace. I can’t help but feel they have totally lost touch with what the people want.
Are they only there to serve themselves and the developers?”
“We are deeply concerned about the sneaky politics being played by the Council and the
Mayor. They claim they are acting in the interests of people with disabilities but they
failed to ask disabled residents in the area,” said Ms Noonan.
“Clover Moore has turned her propaganda machine against her own people, claiming we
oppose access for the disabled, which is just shameless and untrue. The planned pathway
is pointless and poorly located, even for people with disabilities.,.”
said,
Anne Marie Howarth, a wheelchair user living opposite the site, is disappointed by the
actions of the Council. “The path is over 130m long, it is impractical for both wheelchair
users and people with trouble walking.”
“It’s a simple matter of physics. I have addressed the council and the facts are not in
dispute. One look at the aerial photo of the path makes the extent of the impracticality
very obvious”.
“The Mayor is claiming that the path is about access for all, the disabled, the elderly, but
this is just media spin.”
“1000 neighbours in City Quarter could only access the path via a steep path with steps,
so that excludes wheelchair users and families with prams.”
“I hope the Council will consult with disabled residents in future developments, so that
solutions aren’t merely legal, but also practical and usable.”
Michela Noonan says “This pointless path will destroy the whole community’s ies’
enjoyment of a unique bushland and wildlife habitat. The whole intention of the DA has
been lost. We don’t want it. Why is the Council insisting we have it?”
The issue will be the subject of an extraordinary general meeting of Council today at 1pm
and residents will demand an inquiry into the process.
Media Inquiries
Michela Noonan 0413 242 406 and
Anne Marie Howarth 0402 425 642
Background Information
Located on the grounds of the former Camperdown children’s hospital, the Orphan
School Creek Gully has been ear-marked as native habitat for over 10 years. The DA of
August 2007 approved a forest and native bushland. Instead the council changed the
plans to include a 130 metre, concrete, zigzag path through its very heart.
NEWS 
