34 & 36 Stuart St. (the red area) is the area the council intends to sell off.

On the 10th of December 2012, once more a proposal to sell off Little Manly Beach public foreshore was presented to Councillors who voted 4 to 3 to sell it off. With the General manager Henry Wong given carte blanche in selling the land.  And once again your opinion about the environment and public amenity can stop this. A rescission motion is set for the 4th of February 2013 at Manly Council Chambers ( 7.30 pm), this has been changed to the 11th of February.

On the 11th of February Council did not rescind the sell off decision. The voting breakdown was the same as below. The motion* is spelt out below in italics: (comments in bold)

Moved that:

1. Properties 34, 36 and 38 Stuart Street Manly be zoned for Environmental Living E4 under the Draft Manly Comprehensive LEP;

Open space to Residential rezoning: 34 & 36 Stuart St. are public land to be spot rezoned to sell off, 38 Stuart St. privately owned land to be spot rezoned for windfall gain (not tied to any public tradeoff such as motion 3)

2. Council proceed to create a three metre wide right of way at the rear of 34 and 36 Stuart
Street to enable public access to the beach from the Craig Avenue Carpark; and the Dingy Storage facility located at the rear of 34 be retained as an on-going concern with existing use rights attached and requiring the purchaser of 34 to maintain the facility. And the General Manager to consult with the Heritage Committee regarding the Farrell Family memorial and anchor;

Dark pink, highlights possible conditional areas: the 3m Right of Way and the Dinghy Storage facility, however if Council does not retain ownership, these conditional areas and any other conditions will most probably be tested in the Land and Environment Court.

If No. 38 Stuarts St’s development process is any guide, the Land and Environment Court** will look to surrounding developments for precedence rather than the foreshore position, and indeed any hard fought conditions won by Manly Council in Court will then be overturned by Manly Council (under s96 modifications***) !?

The Farrell Family memorial was in respect to the the park they helped create, removing the park makes the memorial somewhat obsolete.

3. Council approach the owners of 38 Stuart Street to seek agreement for a right of way at the rear of their property to link up with that proposed for 34 and 36;

An undefined Right of Way, if it was defined and linked with motion 1 this could have be achieved, as is, this motion will almost definitely be ignored, or made meaningless.

4. Following the creation of the right of way at the rear of 34 and 36 Stuart Street, these
properties be sold and proceeds go to repay the loan on 40 Stuart Street, and the General
Manager to determine the timing for these divestment.

The properties of 34 & 36 Stuart St.(c.1400 sqm.) are about 4 times larger than 40 Stuart St. (c.350 sqm.). So the motion is obviously not about repaying the loan for  40 Stuart St., but about selling the properties.

5. The General Manager be authorised to do all things necessary to implement the above points one to four, including the execution of any documents and the affixing of the Council Seal upon them; and

The General Manager is given Carte Blanche to sell the properties to whoever at whatever price, no public scrutiny or council approval required !!!

6. 40 Stuart Street remain zoned for open space.

There is no change to 40 Stuart St., certainly no motion to demolish or add it to the existing park. With No. 34 & 36 Stuart St. as our only guide to future Council actions, we should expect that while No. 40 may get a demolish order it will never be acted upon and eventually it will be rezoned and sold off as well.

For the Resolution:
Councillors Heasman, Pickering, Le Surf and Hay AM
Against the Resolution: Councillors Aird, Burns, Bingham
Councillors C Griffin and J Griffin were not present when the voting took place.

RESOLVED:
(Hay AM)
A rescission motion was lodged in relation to the above item.

The Councillors who voted in support of the motion to sell 34 and 36 Stuart St:

Jean Hay (Lib) – Mayor                    jean.hay@manly.nsw.gov.au Tel: 9976 1501

Alan Le Surf (Lib)                           alan.lesurf@manly.nsw.gov.au Tel: 0421 694 035

Adele Heasman (Lib)                     adele.heasman@manly.nsw.gov.au Tel: 9948 1901

Steve Pickering (Lib)                    steve.pickering@manly.nsw.gov.au

The Councillors who abstained for this vote:

Cathy Griffin (Grn)                         cathy.griffin@manly.nsw.gov.au Tel: 0414719513.

James Griffin (Lib)                         james.griffin@manly.nsw.gov.au

The Councillors who voted against the motion.

Barbara Aird (MInd)                        barbera.aird@manly.nsw.gov.au Tel: 9976 1500

Hugh Burns (MInd)                         hugh.burns@dugeem.net  Tel: (02) 9976 1500

Candy Bingham (Ind)                     candy@bingham.com.au

You can let the whole council know your position by responding to records@manly.nsw.gov.au

The General Manager: Henry Wong:

records@manly.nsw.gov.au Tel: 9976 1500

*Council Minutes 10th of December 2012

**Land and Environment Court – Lane v Manly Council 2009 NSWLEC.

***s96 Modifications – MIAP_17062010_AGN_AT

All the people in the public forum of the 11th of February Council Meeting spoke against the “selloff” of the Little Manly Foreshore, in front of standing room only public gallery.

Council Minutes 11th of February 2013 – rescission motion