Proposed
Ultimo Aquatic Centre
Dear
Lord Mayor,
Prior
to the recent City of Sydney Council elections you expressed concern
that the approved budget and facilities which constituted the 2002 Development
Application for the Ultimo Aquatic Centre had been abandoned by your
predecessors on the Council and an alternative DA with severely reduced
budget and facilities was submitted.
On 22
March a number of residents met with the State Minister for Planning,
Craig Knowles, to urge him to reject the 2003 DA and press for the approved
2002 DA to be implemented. The Minister stated that he would write to
the Council for an explanation as to why a revised, and inferior, DA
had been submitted to his department.
Subsequent
to the 22 March meeting with Craig Knowles we have received copies of
a letter sent by the Council’s General Manager which was forwarded
from Sandra Nori who met with concerned residents on 16 January. In
the light of this letter we would urge the new Council to revoke the
authority which delegated to the General Manager – at a Closed
Meeting on 22 December 2003 – to enter a contract with tenderers
should the Planning Minister give consent for the 2003 DA, and for the
matter of the Ultimo Aquatic Centre to be brought before the full Council.
We are
concerned that the delays to this project have caused inflation-related
costs to impose further pressures on the $27 million budget (approved
by council in 2002) allocated to the Ultimo Aquatic Centre and trust
that the Council will consider the use of Section 94 levies collected
from the substantial new developments constructed in this area over
the past 10 years to cover subsequent shortfalls.
Residents
of Ultimo and Pyrmont were encouraged by expressions of intent, stated
in the lead-up to the elections, by the majority of current councillors
to revert to the approved 2002 DA for the Ultimo Aquatic Centre.
It is
crucial that this piece of land, given to the City of Sydney Council
by the State Government for the express purpose of an Aquatic Centre,
should be utilised to its fullest potential and with an eye to the future.
Until
the intervention by the previous Lord Mayor the residents of Ultimo
and Pyrmont had been extensively consulted on all matters related to
the Ultimo Aquatic Centre, an issue which residents feel passionately
is one of the most important community facilities to be built in the
area for decades and will have an impact on their, and their children’s,
quality of life for decades to come.
Yours
sincerely
Paul Hannah