A council promise made after the 2015 Kurnell tornado to set up an SES base in the eastern part of Sutherland Shire is bogged down in the state government bureaucracy.
As part of the frustrating process, the council says it submitted a “Section 57” application for heritage approval, as advised during an onsite meeting with government officials.
Five months later, the application was refused and the council was told a “Section 60” approval was required instead.
A key finding of the review of the Kurnell tornado disaster was SES resources were entirely centralised at their main headquarters at Heathcote.
- Council report
“Despite staff effort, the project has been severely delayed as a result of extremely protracted approvals processes by the NSW Heritage Office,” a report by council staff said.
The report said a key finding of Kurnell tornado disaster review was Sutherland District SES resources were entirely centralised at their main headquarters at Heathcote, which “inhibited emergency service response times”
The report said the SES proposed using Building 7, a weatherboard cottage, formerly used as a fisheries school, at the top of the site.
The 2016 draft strategic masterplan said Building 7 had “partially lost its historic context as the bitumen roadway and additions of steel frame canopy carport detracts from the setting”.
The council report said funding for renovations was available, with the SES securing a $26,000 grant and the council expecting to contribute about $100,000 from existing budgets
Cronulla MP Mark Speakman, who was Minister for Heritage before becoming Attorney-General, said he had asked his successor Gabrielle Upton’s office to arrange a meeting between senior government and council officials “to try to resolve the impasse”
Mr Speakman met council general manager Scott Phillips and SES representatives to discuss the matter.
He said he supported the proposal in principle but the decision was one for the Hungry Point Reserve Trust.
“It would be a good use of Building 7, which has been unoccupied for five years and is next door to the Marine Rescue NSW state headquarters on the site,” he said.
“An SES location in the eastern end of the Sutherland Shire could improve SES response times.”
Mr Speakman said the proposed building alterations were “modest”.
“The building itself seems to have no individual heritage significance and the site has layers of many different periods and types of construction on it, so there is no one building ‘theme’ which would be disrupted by the proposed alterations,” he said.
Mr Speakman said he was told at last month’s meeting the heritage division of Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), as delegate for the Heritage Council, would not consent to any work, at least for some time until approval of a final conservation management plan for the whole site.
”An item on the State heritage register cannot be altered except with the consent of the Heritage Council, which is independent of the government and the minister, or pursuant to general exemptions granted by the Heritage Council,” he said.
“These consents are commonly handled by the Heritage Division of OEH under delegation by the Heritage Council.”
