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Residents and community groups are ‘disgusted’ at their lack of access to one of Campbelltown’s biggest development applications. The Advertiser has been contacted by several people who were furious that they could not access Lendlease’s Mount Gilead housing development application online before the close of the exhibition period on Monday. Development applications on public exhibition can be viewed online in neighbouring council areas, but not in Campbelltown. Anyone wanting to view a Campbelltown DA must do so in person at the HJ Daley Library or the Campbelltown Council building. Additionally, the council does not allow copies of the document to be made. Georges River Environmental Alliance secretary Sharyn Cullis said the council’s reluctance to make DAs available on their website skewed the outcome in favour of the developers. “I think it is appalling and disgraceful and encourages a culture of pro-developer bias,” she said. “If other councils can put their DAs up online, why can’t Campbelltown? We don’t have this problem anywhere else.” NSW National Parks Association, Macarthur branch member Julie Sheppard also shared her frustration. She said the NPA had sought advice from the Environmental Defenders Office on what to do about the lack of DA access and were advised that they would have a strong case if they took the matter to court. The EDO said the council was supposed to allow residents to make copies of applications. Ms Sheppard said the NPA lacked the funds and resources to pursue the matter in court, despite the many occasions the NPA had been unhappy with the council. “We think it’s an appalling lack of transparency in that the council seems to be facilitating the developers’ agenda by restricting the community’s access to critical information on matters that will affect so many aspects of our lives in this area,” she said. “Not only is it discriminatory (also for those who are housebound) but it is unnecessary and, we believe, illegal.” In a letter directed to the general manager of Campbelltown Council, the EDO condemned the lack of DA access. “Members of the public have a right to full and free access to the information contained in [a] DA,” the letter said. “Failure to allow members of the public to make copies (which may also be used for the purposes of obtaining expert or legal advice) restricts their ability to provide an informed response to the application, and in our view amounts to a serious denial of procedural fairness.” Wedderburn resident Pat Durman said applications the size of Mount Gilead needed to be made available more widely given the large number of people interested in making a submission. She said she had visited Campbelltown Library twice, for about three to four hours on each occasion, to take in all the details of the document. “You can’t copy it or photograph it, so all you can do is take notes,” she said “My husband and I are retired, so we have the time and we can get out to the library. People who are immobile or disabled or have families to look after wouldn’t be able to do that.” Peter Mahoney, of Oatley, was also interested in making a submission on the Mount Gilead proposal, and contacted the council several times with his disappointment in the process. He said he left two messages with the council and did not receive a reply. The council’s acting director of city development, Fletcher Rayner, said the council always followed appropriate legislation regarding DA accessibility and would be in breach of copyright restrictions if documents were placed online. “Other councils have addressed the copyright limitation by specifically seeking consent from the report authors to place the material online, indemnifying them from any legal action,” he said. Mr Rayner said Campbelltown Council was in the process of reviewing its public exhibition procedure. “Council is currently seeking to modify our procedures with a view to making all digital copies of documents available on our DA tracker,” he said. “Our process would be similar to other councils who make this information available.” Despite receiving complaints about the accessibility of the DA, the council never sought permission from Lendlease to place the Mount Gilead documents online. A Lendlease spokeswoman said the company was “strongly committed to complying with relevant planning policies in all the communities in which we operate”.

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