When Georges River Council finally binned its ill-fated plan for five-storeys on the Oatley Bowling Club site last December after a 12-year fight, I hoped that it had learned from its mistakes and would adopt a more consultative approach with its residents.
However, from T. Kot's "positive spin" comments about the Kogarah North Precinct, it seems that, once again, council could be placing the interests of developers over the amenity of residents (Your View, May 1).
And if my experience with the Greater Sydney Commission is the norm, we can't expect the state government to block over-development.
Last year I was a member of the GSC's "Citizens' Panel" and spent two days listening to its executives wax lyrical about the need for Sydney to be "liveable" and "sustainable", with green space having to be "accessible, protected and enhanced".
However, when I raised the likely loss of our parkland in Oatley (the club site), the executives claimed they couldn't help with specific problems.
The chairman, Lucy Turnbull suggested I should write to a commissioner instead - but I'd already done that in 2016, and all I had received back from the GSC was - you guessed it - "positive spin"!
Peter Mahoney, Oatley
