Barry Collier has produced an email he wrote nine years ago to fend off Liberal claims he is to blame for Sutherland Shire’s biggest housing development.
The Labor candidate for the September 10 council election, who is campaigning against “overdevelopment”, has been dubbed “Brick Pit Barry” by Liberal councillors and supporters.
They claim, as the MP for Miranda, he stood by and allowed the Labor government to sell the Kirrawee brick pit site and rezone the site to facilitate the development of 749 apartments and a shopping centre.
New images of the South Village project, posted by builder DeiCorp show the enormity of the development.
Mr Collier’s email, marked “confidential”, was to then Planning Minister Frank Sartor at the end of 2007.
It started, “Frank, further to our telephone conversation on Christmas Eve ...I anticipate this being a major issue for my electorate over the next few years.”
Mr Collier’s email stated the state government had funded a master plan covering the site, which provided for 280 apartments, business units and a park covering about 10 per cent of the property.
The email said Sydney Water had sold the site that year subject to it being developed in accordance with the master plan.
However, the new owners were making overtures to councillors, saying they wanted to develop a Westfield-style regional shopping centre, he wrote.
“I understand that Liberal Councillors – Schreiber, Johns (ex Labor Mayor of Rockdale) and Gibbons, as well as Independent Simone –tend to favour the idea,” he wrote.
Mr Collier said he was advised the new owners, through their agents, had intimated if they didn’t get their way, they would be lobbying Mr Sartor to “call in the Project under Part 3A.”
“I want the brick pit site developed in accordance with the Kirrawee master plan,” Mr Collier wrote.
“After all, the state government invested $500,000 and undertook 20 months of extensive community consultation in developing the plan.”
Mr Collier’s appeal appeared to fall on deaf ears.
The Labor government took over planning powers for the site under part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.
This gave the planning department and minister the power to determine development of the site.
In 2011, the incoming Coalition government scrapped the part 3A planning powers, but the move was too late for the brick pit development, which had advanced too far.
A new government-appointed body, the Planning Assessment Commisison (PAC), approved a development containing 432 apartments.
In 2013, the site was sold to Payce, who gained approval from the PAC to to increase the number of apartments to 749.
Liberal councillor and former mayor Kent Johns said he was on the record as “opposing the zoning proposed by Collier and Labor”.
“I proposed the site be zoned for educational purposes, at a height limit of three storeys,” he said.
“I recall Barry even criticised me for proposing it.
“The facts are clear, Barry supported the zoning to high density and the sale of the land.
“It was his Government that introduced part 3A which led to its approval.
“The sale and density of this site sits with Barry Collier and his Labor government of the day.
“He made a huge mistake allowing his Labor government to rezone and sell the land to the highest bidder.
“The Part 3A legislation introduced by his government took any influence council had on the site out of our hands.”