On May 29, a public meeting was held at Shellharbour, south of Wollongong, to oppose the NSW Labor government's plans to allow private development in the Killalea State Recreation Park. The meeting was attended by 160 local residents, unionists, environmentalists and Indigenous people, following a call by the South Coast Labor Council.
An earlier meeting on May 19 at the entrance of the park attracted 200 people.
Killalea is a popular coastal park in a pristine natural environment of 250 hectares. The beaches in the park have been a haven for surfers since the 1970s. In the early 1990s, there was a successful campaign to stop the state government charging an admission fee to the park, after 11,000 people signed a petition.
The NSW Labor government has signed a 52-year lease with the developer Killalea Coastal Investments Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Mariner Property Partnerships. The lease is conditional upon approval of concept plans. Due to the size of the development, Shellharbour Council will most likely be bypassed and final approval given by the state minister for lands, Tony Kelly.
Negotiations regarding the proposed development and the terms of the lease have not been made public. Labor MP for Kiama Matt Brown has claimed the process was public knowledge and had been advertised widely, however several speakers at both public meetings said they had no knowledge of any prior public consultation.
The May 29 meeting launched the Save Killalea Alliance. A resolution was unanimously passed calling for no private development in the park, for all negotiations and agreements to be open to the public and for proper public consultation. The resolution also supported Uncle Ruben Brown, a local Indigenous leader, in making a native title land claim over park land. Addressing the meeting, Brown spoke of his family ties with the park and surrounding land and appealed to the meeting for legal assistance to put forward the claim.
The new alliance is seeking a response to the resolution from the NSW government and a further public meeting will be held on June 19. For more information or to sign a petition, visit http://www.savekillalea.com.au.