What controls the Minister for Planning? Public interest or developer donations?
November 15th, 2006
About 200 angry people from resident action groups all over Sydney marched yesterday from Hyde Park to Parliament House to chants of ‘Sartor out’.
The common theme amongst the groups was Minister for Planning Frank Sartor’s takeover of so many planning decisions and the injustices being wrought on communities as a result.
A variety of banners highlighted everything from plans for the Eveleigh Rail Yards to the manipulation of zonings by developers that have caused hardship to landowners through lack of proper compensation.
But Liberal speakers’ rhetoric about Labor deals with developers rang hollow when Greens MLC Sylvia Hale took the stand and pointed out that both Labor and Liberal were up to their necks in big business election money. Only the Greens offered any alternative to the culture of pandering to big business at the expense of communities.
Sylvia’s comments highlighted the importance of putting Green watchdogs in both houses of the NSW parliament in 2007.
