Overdevelopment fears
In her comments (''Candidates battle it out," Leader, February 17), Liberal candidate Eleni Petinos forgets the infrastructure and services delivered for the people of Miranda by Labor during the 12 years I had the honour of representing them in state Parliament.
These included Miranda five-ways reconstruction, Woronora Bridge, Cronulla rail duplication and a new Sutherland Hospital — to name a few.
Clearly, these (and others) were not forgotten by the people of Miranda when they went to the polls at the 2013 state by-election.
As one who has fought overdevelopment consistently since I was elected in 1999, I am appalled by Ms Petinos's reported failure to take any clear stance on this key local issue — which has reared its ugly head again since I retired in 2011.
With massive overdevelopment about to be unleashed right across the shire under mayor Kent Johns's LEP, and with examples such as the current state government's approval of 750 units at the brickpit staring her in the face, Ms Petinos apparently sees the Liberal's open-slather approach to development as ensuring the shire's "relaxed feeling" is "maintained". Hello?
If Ms Petinos has really been out there listening, as she says, she would know the majority of shire residents are far from "relaxed" about overdevelopment.
Many seniors are extremely worried and others with families are simply outraged at the impact mayor Johns's LEP — as approved by Planning Minister Goward — will have on their quality of life. Indeed, some even see the shire as becoming "another Rockdale" under Sutherland Council's latest LEP. From her comments in the Leader, I can only believe that Ms Petinos accepts overdevelopment as "a given".
Barry Collier, Miranda MP
