“18 months after ICAC, 8 still not charged
BY LAUREL-LEE RODERICK Illawarra Mercury
13 Apr, 2010

The future of eight individuals embroiled in the Wollongong City Council corruption scandal remains in limbo, 18 months after the Independent Commission Against Corruption recommended they should face criminal charges.

…

Just three of the 11 have had charges laid against them. Former Labor councillors Kiril Jonovski, 66, Zeki Esen, 44, and Frank Gigliotti, 50, have each pleaded not guilty to charges of furnishing false or misleading information and giving false or misleading evidence at the inquiry.

Gigliotti has also pleaded not guilty to three additional charges of intentionally making a false statement.

All three men are due back in Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on June 30 for the start of a hearing into the charges, and could face up to five years in jail and fines of up to $22,000 if convicted.”

Full story gives more detail about the situation in relation to the other 8 individuals. See

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/18-months-after-icac-8-still-not-charged/1800802.aspx?storypage=0

Illawarra Mercury 9 April (page 9) lists the members of the WCC Heritage committee as:

Doug Boleyn
Ben Meek
Meredith Hutton
Carol Herben
Fidelia Pontarolo
Sharralyn Robinson
Nicholas Gill
Jason De Bruin.

The Mercury also provides a short note on their heritage expertise.

Wollongong City Council
Media release: Thursday, 8 April 2010

Council announces new Heritage Committee

Wollongong City Council announced the names of eight residents who have been
selected to sit on the city’s new Heritage Advisory Committee.

Members of the Heritage Advisory committee will provide advice and support to
Council in developing policies and strategic projects that relate to Wollongong’s
heritage.

Administrator Richard Colley said Council called for the establishment of the committee
last year and invited applications from people with diverse knowledge and expertise in the
region’s heritage.

“The members all have great experience, wide knowledge of local history, and come from
a range of backgrounds and fields including archaeology, engineering and human
geography,” Administrator Colley said.

Council’s Director of Planning and Environment, Andrew Carfield, said establishing the
Committee is an important part of Council’s efforts to preserve our city’s local heritage.
“The Committee will help Council update the city’s heritage lists and policies to
ensure we can effectively conserve those items and places that are important to the
history of Wollongong.”

“We will also work with the committee on a review of the thematic history of Wollongong,
as flagged in community consultation on the Local Environment Plan last year,” Mr.
Carfield said.

“I’d like to congratulate the new members of the committee and look forward to working
with them over the next two years.”

The Wollongong Heritage Advisory Committee will meet every two months to provide
advice to Council on heritage policies and strategic projects. They will also raise
community awareness and promote heritage conservation in the community.

The present webhosting arrangements for www.reformwcc.info are expiring and i am looking at transferring the site to a new host, which may not be as easy as i would like.

The site may be down for a few days.

There may also be some problems with sending email to me, which i will work on.

Bruce
Wednesday 7 April 2010

Gone to pot: councils on brink of slashing services
DEBRA JOPSON REGIONAL AFFAIRS\
Sydney Morning Herald
April 5, 2010

LOCAL government is suffering its worst financial crisis, with one in four NSW councils on the brink of being unable to pay for services they have an obligation to provide.

The president of the Shires Association, Bruce Miller, said the state government had forced councils to pay for essential services such as health, dental, childcare, waste recycling and policing, while severely restricting their income through rate-pegging.

…

At the state election next year councils would press the electorate to vote for an end to rate-pegging, Mr Miller said.

…

The Minister for Local Government, Barbara Perry, said the state government monitored the finances of all NSW councils and there was no evidence to support claims of a crisis.

”Rate-pegging has been protecting ratepayers from excessive and unjustified rate increases for over 30 years,” she said.

Councils had a responsibility to deliver services within their allocated budgets and they could apply to vary their rates for particular projects, she said.

Full story

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/gone-to-pot-councils-on-brink-of-slashing-services-20100404-rls0.html

From WCC

Headlands Hotel Site
Draft Site Specific Development Control Plan Chapter D13 –
Preliminary input sought

Input Sought
As part of the preparation of the draft DCP chapter for the Headland Hotel site, Council is seeking preliminary input from the Neighbourhood Forums.

Proposal
Council on 15 December 2009 resolved to prepare a draft site specific Development Control Plan (DCP) for the Headlands Hotel site for inclusion into Part D of Wollongong Development Control Plan 2009.

The site is visually significant and has many important values. It is possibly the most significant privately owned headland in the City. It is a suitable location for tourist development, however Council wants a set of controls put in place to guide any future development application/s.

Location
The Headlands Hotel site, highlighted in red on the map below, is located on the corner of Headland Avenue and Yuruga Street, Austinmer.

The site has an area of 6,845m² and is privately owned. A laneway runs alongside the eastern boundary of the site. Land to the east of the laneway is owned by the State of New South Wales (Crown land) and is managed by Wollongong City Council.

Current Planning Controls
The site is zoned SP3-Tourist under Wollongong Local Environmental Plan 2009. This zoning does not allow for residential development. The objective of this zone is: To provide for a variety of tourist-oriented development and related uses.

The Wollongong LEP 2009 also limits building height to 9m (2 storeys) and permits a maximum floor space ratio (FSR) of 1.5:1. The Norfolk Pines are listed as landscape heritage items.

Recent Background
There has been a long history associated with various development proposals on the site and Land and Environment Court appeals.

More recently, Council on 15 December 2009 resolved to prepare a draft site specific Development Control Plan (DCP) for the Headlands Hotel site for inclusion into Part D of Wollongong Development Control Plan 2009.

On 19 February 2010, Council refused the following development applications relating to the site were refused:
• DA-2009/1313 – Demolition of hotel and carpark, 8 lot subdivision and associated works;
• DA-2009/1315 – Spa resort comprising serviced apartment and associated facilities, spa therapy rooms, pools, dining room, bar, function room and associated carpark, landscaping and site works.
• DA-2009/1316, DA-2009/1317, DA-2009/1318, DA-2009/1318, DA-2009/1319, DA-2009/1320, DA-2009/1321 & DA-2009/1322 – Construction of dwelling house and bed and breakfast accommodation upon each proposed lot.

Issues
A list of issues is provided below, in order to help guide discussion. This list is not exhaustive, and you may provide comment in relation to additional relevant factors.
• Footprint of development, site coverage, bulk and scale;
• Visual impact;
• Coastal headland location, including climate change impacts;
• Type of land use;
• Height;
• Setbacks;
• Heritage & history of the site – the Norfolk Island Pines upon the site are heritage listed;
• Landscaping;
• Car parking;
• Urban design considerations;
• Adjoining / surrounding development;
• Acoustic and privacy impacts; and
• Public access and the public domain.

Conclusion
Council is seeking comment from the Neighbourhood Forums regarding the Headlands Hotel site in order to assist in the preparation of a site-specific development control plan. It would be appreciated if this could be discussed at the forums’ next meeting and comments provided to Council as soon as possible.

After this preliminary consultation has taken place, a draft DCP chapter will be prepared and reported to Council. If endorsed, the draft DCP chapter will then be placed upon public exhibition and community feedback invited.