Moruya East Village

24th February 2008

This week’s meeting of the Eurobodalla Shire adopted a motion that will impact on the future of Moruya and other parts of the shire for years to come. The Councillors were split on the issue and the vote was 5 to 3 in favour of supporting the revised Moruya East development currently with the Minister for Planning.

President Mark Fleming said “The Councillors decided to throw out the rule book this week and this sends a very bad signal that we are going back to the bad old days of anything goes in relation to development of the area”.

“Not only will this set a dangerous precedent but it also casts a shadow over the credibility of the Council. The Councillors disregarded the hours of work that the staff and community have put into the development of the various plans and polices of Council and decided to write to the Minister of Planning to endorse the Moruya East project”.

He continued “the one bright note in the whole debate was the leadership shown by the Mayor, Fergus Thompson, who pleaded with the Councillors to heed the current planning documents and respect the views of the community, many of whom had approached him on this issue. He was supported by Councillors Lindsay Brown and Chris Kowal.

“Unfortunately this sensible approach to the future of the shire fell on deaf ears and the majority of Councillors decided that good planning no longer matters and even though the development contravenes Council policy it should proceed regardless of the ramifications”.