KYLE Bay residents fighting for what they say is the last parcel of pristine bushland in St George have accused Kogarah Council of being "unseemly haste" and a "lack of due process" in trying to push through a development application for a respite centre on Kyle Williams Estate.
The application is up for determination at Monday's council meeting and the residents want a show of strength to get it deferred until several items are taken into account and restrictions imposed on any future development.
In May, when the application was on public exhibition, the residents formed the Kyle Bay Residents Association for the purpose of protecting what they saw as overdevelopment of the estate — which is a trust — by the Greek Orthodox Church-affiliated Estia Foundation, which won a right to the trust.
The residents said the development was too big for the site, that it would destroy the bushland and amenity of the area, that Estia had long-term plans for further development, and that the council had been less than up-front in how it dealt with the matter.
Since then, the National Trust has listed the Kyle Williams reserve and estate, along with the adjoining jetty and waterfront, as the Kyle Bay Cultural Landscape, and the council's proposed rezoning amendments to its local environmental plan have been released.
The association believes that both those matters should be fully considered before the development application is approved.
Essentially they want to be assured that any future rezoning of the foreshore and waterfront zones should not apply to part of the Kyle Williams estate and that a restrictive covenant be put on any future development.
In the meantime, Estia, which has scaled down its development, is due before the Supreme Court on September 4 for the formal handing over of the freehold from the trust.
"Notwithstanding the [National Trust] listing, Kogarah Council appears to be rushing through a development approval for the Estia Foundation seemingly to ensure that Estia has obtained development consent prior to the date that this matter is back before the Supreme Court," association spokesman Alan Yazbek said.
"The [residents' association] and the local community believe this whole process is lacking transparency and fails to observe due process.
"By failing to consider the effect (if any) of the National Trust listing of the estate, the Liberal council appears to be proceeding with indecent haste to achieve the perceived 'done deal'."
Mr Yazbek stressed that residents were not opposed to the current Estia plan.
COUNCIL SAYS
A Kogarah Council spokeswoman said the issues raised by the residents were adequately addressed in the council report available on its website and there was no breach of process.
‘‘In summary, the National Trust listing is not a statutory consideration and the listing is noted in the report,’’ she said. ‘‘The proposed rezoning does not have any statutory relevance to the assessment of the application and in any event the proposal does not rely on the zoning for permissibility.
‘‘It relies on the heritage provisions of the LEP [local environmental plan] which are unaltered.
‘‘Council has no legal capacity for preventing someone lodging a DA [development application] for anything that is permissible on a site; however, that eventuality is not anticipated. The current and proposed zoning have significant constraints on the range of permitted uses and there are significant environmental constraints on the site that would restrict any future use.’’
■ Kyle Bay Residents Association urges all concerned residents to attend a public meeting on Sunday, August 24, at Merriman Reserve, Kyle Bay, at 3pm.
What would you like to see happen with the property?