Massive turnout at extraordinary meeting

With the public gallery overflowing, and many forced to stand or sit on the floor, the attendance at the council's extraordinary meeting of 16th September 2004 was one of the biggest ever–over 300! Most were wearing the pink and white ribbons handed out by 5 Acres Now committee members to identify supporters, including all Councillors except the Mayor.

The extraordinary meeting was a result of the decision taken at the council's planning meeting held on 17th August 2004, at which Councillors resolved not to make any further decision regarding placing the draft Rural Plan on public exhibition until they had received a briefing from the author of the Rural Land Study, on which the draft Rural Plan was based, in order to better understand the rationale behind the recommendations in the Study. The extraordinary meeting was also to be an opportunity for interested members of the public to make further comment.

The meeting commenced with a presentation from Ian Sinclair, the author of Stages 1 & 2 of the Rural Lands Study. He used his address to cover the key points in the Rural Land Study, focussing on constraints to development and the community notification process, but but provided little by way of justification for the overall recommendation of the Study that there be essentially "no change". As in the Study itself, he glossed over the primary concerns of the affected community, and failed to address why the benefits that would accrue from rural residential subdivision should be ignored.

An hour-long community forum followed Sinclair’s presentation. About 20 speakers addressed the meeting – most strongly critical of the proposals in the draft Plan, particularly the proposal to impose an environmental protection zone without compensation. The lack of any realistic subdivision proposal also came in for heavy criticism, with many questioning the basis of the findings in the Rural Lands Study. Several speakers labelled the proposals as undemocratic because they didn’t benefit those affected. Some from the environmental lobby supported the exhibition of the draft Plan, and spoke against any growth through subdivision, but a later speaker summed up the mood of the meeting saying “we don’t want to be told what to do by a bunch of greenies”.

Councillors then debated the issue, and were unanimously critical of the Rural Lands Study and draft Rural Plan. Ian Sinclair came in for pointed questioning over similarities between this and other Land Studies he has carried out. The proposal for a restrictive environmental zone was also heavily criticised.

It quickly became clear that the draft Plan would not be placed on exhibition, much to the relief of the majority in the gallery. Councillor Shore’s motion for deferral so a review could be carried out was passed unanimously. Councillors indicated that the review would include amendments to align the Rural Plan more closely with the aspirations of the community, with the matter scheduled to come before the Council again in March 2005.

Given the high level of community support for a revitalising the area, it would be a brave council that did not provide a more flexible approach to 5 acre subdivision in the revised Plan, and braver still if they did not address the anger provoked by the proposal to blanket the area with an environmental protection zone.