On Saturday July 13th residents bordering Amy, Maunder and Smith Streets Regents Park woke to the sound of screaming chainsaws ripping through a pocket of much loved bushland. 64 trees a big variety of natives and non natives ranging in height from 22 metres to 3 metres Corymbia citradora, Eucalyptus saligna, Liquidambar styraciflua, Angophora costata, Corymbia maculata, Eucalyptus sideroxylon, Eucalyptus grandis, Eucalyptus microcorys, Grevillea robusta and Jacarandas flourished on the site. The pocket of bushland in the centre of suburban Regents Park was a refuge to a wide range of native birdlife including rare sightings of the black cockatoo, the sounds of birdlife has now disappeared from our local streets.
Initially residents thought that the chainsaws were the actions of a rogue developer, illegally cutting down trees and as often is the case the Developer factors in the fines into the cost of the new development but we were amazed to find out that the Environmental Vandal was in fact the Land & Environment Court. Stupid us, we were naïve enough to think the Court should play a role in upholding Environmental conditions for local residents.
The Developer Sam Darwich took the case to the Land & Environment Court appealing the refusal of his Development Application for 1 – 3 Maunder St, Regents Park. Cumberland Council had refused DA2022/0393 for the demolition of houses on the site and the construction of 16 attached & semi detached dwellings. We were starting to think we could congratulate Cumberland Council for trying to stick up for the interests of residents in Regents Park untill we learned that in fact the Council took part in a conciliation conference and did nothing to defend conditions that had previously been established with the Sydney Central City Planning Panel decision to rezone the site to R3 Medium Density. Protecting the trees of significant value and the refuge for birds and wild life was a key condition of the panels decision. The courts decision overturned those conditions allowing the developer to vandalise and remove trees that had taken sometimes centuries to grow.
We can’t imagine what was going through the mind of the Land & Environment Court Commissioner, Ms Gwenda Kullen. What we do Know is if this development had been proposed in the Northern or Eastern Suburbs and bushland was threatened it would not get the green light. Its obvious that there are different rules for ordinary working class folk who live in places like Regents Park. Not only the Court but successive Governments including the Minns Labor Government thinks its okay to drop any old shit on the mainly working class residents of Western Sydney. We expect Developers to try and maximise their profits and badly impact our lives but we should not have to expect that the Courts, State Government and our own Council play along with the Developer and do damage to our lifestyle and families.
The victims of this Environmental Vandalism in Regents Park is not only the native bushland and birdlife but our children. The significant pocket of 64 trees behind Amy, Maunder & Smith Streets played an important role in filtering the air that we and more importantly our kids breathe. Amy Street fills up with cars morning and afternoon peak times and has a constant flow of traffic through out the day which equates to large amounts of carbon monoxide being pumped out into our local atmosphere and thats where our 64 trees play an important role, those trees suck in that awful bloody pollution and the result is carbon in the tree and the ground and cleaner air for our children to breathe. Younger children with less developed lungs are at greater risk from the carbon monoxide pollution and often it is connected to higher levels of respiratory diseases like asthma.
And this brings us to the BIG CONTRADICTIONS. Our State Government and Council are constantly talking about sustainable development, even the developers parrot the same message about planting more trees and reducing the heat in our suburbs. In reality they are doing the opposite with every new development comes the loss of open green space, the reduction in trees, the increase in hard surfaces like concrete, the loss of deep soil penetration and more pressure on our local infrastructure. It all impacts on our lifestyle and local environment. When we get heavy rains there are less places for the storm water to go, concrete wont soak up the excess water and the same when we get hotter temperatures there are less trees to shelter and protect us from the heat and the suns rays.
Amy, Maunder and Smith Streets are not an isolated example of the loss of open space and 64 trees, on the other side of Joseph St where the Botanica Estate sits there is another approved development which involves relocating the MS Centre close to Joseph St and stealing the open bushland around the original Centre for another private housing estate with the destruction of 467 mature trees. Every new high density development is another loss of trees and deep soil penetration.
The big question is what can we do about it? Nothing short of Institutional Corruption where our political leaders neglect even discriminate against the majority of our population and it starts at the local level with the Councillors we elect who regularly compromise our interests. The Council election on September 14th gives us an opportunity to hold them to account and at the same time send a message to the mainstream political parties that we wont be taken for granted. No Councillor in our ward told us what was happening in the area around Amy, Maunder and Smith Streets and we only found out after the chainsaws had ripped the area apart and close to Botanica the Labor Councillor’s actually told residents they would get a school when it was never going to happen.
The best outcome for our area is that we turn it into a marginal electorate where any politician who wants to be elected has to work for our vote and our interests and as soon as they turn against our interests we kick them out.