A plan created by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council to transform a 71-hectare bushland site at Lizard Rock near Belrose has hit a roadblock, with the NSW Liberal Party seemingly attempting to halt the project.

The plan envisioned by the Land Council, seeks to create a low-rise housing development with shops, community centre and recreation facilities. It is estimated that the project will create approximately $855 million in revenue, and was green lit by the Sydney North Planning Panel.

Despite this, concerns about the development have been raised by independent election candidates, with the Liberals seemingly jumping on board. Planning Minister Anthony Roberts was quoted in The Daily Telegraph as saying “we will not allow the rezoning application for Lizard Rock to proceed,” if the party is re-elected in the upcoming state election.

The Land Council has now sought legal action and contacted the Premier’s office via consultants Chalk and Behrendt. A letter from firm founder, Andrew Chalk, seeks clarity in regards to Roberts’ quotes in the News Limited masthead.

“If you have not formally rejected our client’s planning proposal or undertaken the review, then, as a matter of principle, our client objects to the interference with the independent planning process you established and encouraged our client to engage with,” he says.

“In any case, no forewarning was given, and no consultation occurred with our client in relation to the decision. It is not appropriate that our client, an Aboriginal Land Council with limited resources, learns the fate of its planning proposal in a Sunday paper.”

Land Council Chief Executive, Nathan Moran, says he is unsure of the government’s motives.

“Our land is private land. The biggest misnomer in this is people feeling that somehow they have a right to speak about private freehold land,” he tells the Sydney Morning Herald.

“We do feel it’s about racism and paternalism, that people believe they know what’s best for us.”

NSW Labor and a number of independents are in opposition of the proposal, including Labor Planning Spokesman Paul Scully, Wakehurst Independent Candidate Michael Regan and Pittwater Independent Candidate Jacqui Scruby.

Regan, Mayor of Northern Beaches Council for over a decade, has campaigned strongly against the development for many years.

“We don’t build in the bush. It’s bushfire prone, there’s no infrastructure. There is nothing here and that’s why it has never been considered and will never be considered,” he says.

The NSW Planning Department maintains that the project is still under assessment.

Branko Miletic

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