Welcome to Blue Mountains Unofficial Council Web Page.
The Blue Mountains City Council is located in Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. We have, in the past been critical of the Council and as a result they have tried to shut us down.... Free speech isn't dead in Australia but it certainly smells funny. On the panel to your left you can download the letter by Steven Nicholson of McPhee Kelshaw Solicitors at Springwood in an attempt to force our hosting company to withdraw this site. This just increased interest in our site and sent our ranking through the roof! We think it was a pretty clumsy attempt to shut us down and it is a reassuring feeling knowng that McPhee Kelshaw Lawyers are on the job for the other side!
We are committed to fair coverage of issues and we always encourage Council or any other party to respond to issues - we will publish replies unedited. Council has never exercised this option, prefering legal action instead.
$300,000 worth of free parking for ex mayor at Lawson.
The redevelopment of the Lawson town centre has been attracting a lot of attention but one issue we are particularly concerned about is the Development Application by ex mayor Michael Neall to build new shops on lots 3 and 4 of the shopping subdivision.
Mr Neall owned existing Lawson shops which were effected by road widening. The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority fairly compensates businesses and owners when this happens and we can be fairly confident that Mr. Neall has been adequitely compensated. It is particularly worth noting that the road widening has been on the books for a very long time and the existing shops have been neglected and run down for many years....It was demolition by neglect but the RTA most probably paid out compensation based on the shops and businesses being long term viable concerns.
Developments in this part of the Upper Mountains require on-site car parking to be provided at the rate of 1 space for 20 square metres of floor space. If not provided on site council levies $20,000 per space. Mr Neall's recent DA of 500 square metres was approved in a matter of months with with no car parking required at all! He previously had only 200 square metres of retail space. So, it would seem after already being compensated by the RTA, Mr Neall is getting at least $300,000 worth of parking spaces provided by you and us.
In contrast to this, the owner of the supermarket around the corner in Honour Avenue put in a DA application for another shop over 2 years ago which Council is rigidly adhering to the parking space rules. He is providing 26 on-site spaces at his own expense but is being levied another $120,000.
Mr. Neall, if you would like to contact us we would be very happy to publish your views on why you deserve free parking at Lawson. Perhaps you might like to also tell us all how much the RTA has paid you in compensation already..
Lawson Golf Club.
The golf club has been decommissioned and Council is trying to work out what to do with the space. Late last year the RTA needed to bulldoze about an acre of the old first fairway to install drainage pipes and works for the new stormwater system for the ever increasing highway runoff. It all seemed fairly reasonable until the land had to be regenerated after the earthworks. Guess what they decided to regenerate the land back to?.... A golf club!!!
Yes, they laid about an acre of turf (we are guessing around $30,000) and turned it back into a first fairway! In yet another stroke of town planning genius nobody ever thought that this money may have been spent on something else.. a BMX track.. a native nursery area...rare plant regeneration area...an equestrian riding centre....anything but turning it back to a first fairway for a golf course that doesn't exist any more!
Lawson's new toilet block.
In another town planning triumph, Lawson has a new toilet block overlooking the Neighbourhood Centre and next to the school. This land has traditionally been used for events like the Lawson Festival that spill over from the Neighbourhood Centre and School. There is no shortage of places to put the new toilets but we think prime community land is not the place to do it.
Council doing deals with the big supermarket chains.
After losing many of millions of dollars of ratepayers money in dodgy investments with Lehman Brothers the Council seems very keen to do partnership deals with the big supermarket chains, whereby these companies pay for community infrastructure (like community halls) in return for DA approval for their supermarkets. With a council that has lost so much of our money and short of cash it is a difficult question - we can't afford much of this infrastructure unless we hop into bed with the big players. Watch this space - we'll endevour to get more of the Springwood issues online.
The contact email here is info@bluemountainscouncil.com - we welcome any information you may wish to provide but we require that anything you provide is supported by documentation.
If there are any facts in this site that you feel to be incorrect please let us know.
The Blue Mountains City Council web site is bmcc.nsw.gov.au.