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So now we know what happens in the New South Wales Planning Department goes something like this. The bureaucrats decide they need a plan to guide development in a region. They hire experts, hold workshops, consult the community and interest groups, and spend a whole lot of money. Finally a plan is created that identifies what areas are suitable for development and what aren't. Behold the Plan! The Plan is given to the local bureaucrats who naturally enough assume they are supposed to follow it. But no! A wealthy developer comes along who decides he would like to build hundreds of houses in an area that the Plan determined was unsuitable. Never mind that it contains rare vegetation, is subject to subsidence, is in the middle of an unspoilt historic village and is miles from transport. He does a lot of lobbying. He "bumps into" the head local planner on his way to work and harangues him. He pays lots of money to the Labor Party. What's more he accuses the local planner, who is trying to follow the Plan, of being "biased" for merely doing what he thought he was supposed to do in the public interest.
The Minister gets involved. The developer gets to meet the Minister. The developer persuades the Minister that his project should be marked "State significant" and get the fast track / personal Ministerial process, even though under the Plan the site was considered the least suitable for development. The local planner is sidelined. The residents wake up one morning and find that their village is going to be developed.
This is how the untouched hamlet of Catherine Hill Bay now lies under the threat of development. The papers are on the Minister's desk. Let's hope he pays attention to the thousands of objections that should be somewhere on his desk too.
