FRIENDS OF PITTWATER RUNS FOR MERGED COUNCIL TO
‘PROTECT REGION’S COMMUNITY VALUES’
Friends of Pittwater Team - John Lettoof, Jenny Stone and Peter Bosley
Robbie Patterson, Manly Daily
August 30, 2017
AN ANTI-AMALGAMATION group formed to protect Mona Vale from overdevelopment has branched out to run for the Pittwater ward in the Northern Beaches Council election.
Friends Of Pittwater, led by Peter Bosley, would prefer a stand-alone Pittwater Council to be reinstated. But Mr Bosley, 66, said he was running for the merged council so that those wanting to protect the Pittwater Community’s values – including no high-rise and retention of wildlife corridors – were still honoured.
“I see it as an interim measure that has been forced upon us,” he said. “I was of the opinion we should have cancelled these elections because the councils that decided to fight have got their councils back. Unfortunately it is the best we have got, but we would work towards getting Pittwater back.”
His running mates will be Jenny Stone and John Lettoof.
Friends Of Pittwater formed from Friends Of Mona Vale, which has actively campaigned against the B-Line in Village Park.
Mr Bosley echoed his former group’s mantra that the B-Line bus service would be a “Trojan horse for development” on the peninsula.
The fears came on the back of Greater Sydney Commission’s plan to accommodate for a growing population.
They argue the Northern Beaches Council’s Mona Vale Place Plan (MVPP), which proposed an increase from four to six storeys, was a sign of things to come.
The MVPP was postponed until a council was elected, and Friends Of Pittwater has promised to fight to have height limits retained.
The group’s platform would include fighting for the retention of an emergency ward and operating theatres at Mona Vale Hospital.
Mr Bosley said the Wakehurst Parkway’s flooding issues could be a problem in emergencies.
“We have an ageing population in Pittwater, more people have things like heart attacks, to get from here to Mona Vale Hospital compared to Frenchs Forest may be the difference between life and death,” he said.
Mrs Stone said they were committed to ensuring wildlife corridors were not developed on. She pointed to the Greater Sydney Commission’s draft report, which aimed to shape development in the future.
She argued the way it was being enacted by governments was “not representative of the commission’s rhetoric”.
“If the population density increases in the community they make a big song and dance about green spaces being important . . . so what is their first action, they (the council) attack village park – if this MVPP proceeds they will develop more on our green space.”
Former Narrabeen Sports High School teacher John Lettoof said independence in Pittwater was important.
“We have Liberals in Canberra, Liberals in Macquarie St and if we get Liberals with the bloc vote here, the juggernaut coming through, we are basically a totalitarianism, that is the antithesis of democracy,” he said.
Mr Lettoof said he would push to stop commercial fishing off Pittwater.
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