DEAR News Of The Area,

THE people of Coffs Harbour elected the Coffs Harbour Council to manage and guide the current and future welfare of our area.

This elected council does not have to wait for the results of any survey, or opinion, or set of deliberations before it votes on a motion moved and seconded by its own members.

If such a motion is upheld, the Coffs Harbour Council is acting entirely correctly when it advises the body, or authority concerned about the outcome of their motion.

Therefore, when the Coffs Harbour Council advised the State Government of NSW that it rejects the State Government’s plan for development of the Jetty Foreshores, the Council was acting both correctly and responsibly.

The relevant Council motion had been passed by six votes to three, after long, informed and insightful debate.

To insinuate that the Coffs Harbour Council should have waited before it advised the NSW State Government is ridiculous.

Why should a democratically elected Council wait before it advises any person or instrumentality about anything on which it has voted and passed a motion?

Further, the NSW State Government actually appears to believe that those who live and work in the provinces, the people of Coffs Harbour, must pay for infrastructural development through the sale of adjacent land.

And they appear to hold this belief despite the fact that the NSW State Government has recently demolished and rebuilt a serviceable Sydney football stadium, at the cost of $2 billion, without any sale of adjacent land, or anyone having to agree to additional residential development in the area.

The New South Wales State Government will be facing an election in early 2023.

Does this government actually expect the people of Coffs Harbour to ignore or excuse the fact that it proposes different strategies for infrastructural development in different areas of this state?

This current State Government of NSW panders to the population of Sydney, while, apparently, expecting the population of Coffs Harbour to pay for infrastructural development of their foreshores by selling and developing adjacent land, when the majority of the people of Coffs Harbour agree with the Coffs Harbour City Council, and, wholeheartedly, do not wish to sell this land for the purpose of multi-story development.

Yours faithfully,
Pam SOROCZYNSKI,
Sawtell.