Caption: Davistown residents gathered outside the Wyong Council chamber before the meeting
There will be a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) for 20 dog sites – but it was 22. See the list at the bottom of this story.
Pippi Park and Memorial Park at Davistown have been removed from the list of dog leash and off leash sites that will under a review of environmental factors.
Administraor Rik Hart removed the two sites from the list at the Council-under-administration meeting on July 23.
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Mr Hart said he woujld cut straight to the chase; he had met residents, read all the reports, particularly the environmental reports and he had noted a few things in his visits: the memorial park was not a good replacement ….on balance he is going to propose Pippi Point not be covered by the REF and he dropped Memorial park off the list as well.
The gallery, packed with Davistown residents dressed in red, applauded loudly.
But the news was not so good for Terrigal residents.
He has not changed his mind on The Haven at Terrigal.
He has seen numerous issues there, as has the CEO, Mr Hart said and so a report on a fenced dog off leash area will come back to an elected body but in the meantime it will have an REF.
Johny Row addressed the Administrator at the public forum held before the council meeting.
Mr Row spoke on behalf of the Davistown Community as a member of the Save Pippi Point Team and Committee Member of the Davistown Progress Association.
”I feel you are probably as sick as we are of talking on this subject and hope you can make a resolution tonight which can bring the matter to a close,” he said.
”The petition which I presented to you from the people of Davistown to keep the off leash exactly as it is had 3572 signatures on it.
”All your own stats show people are unsupportive of a change here. By any measure is very clear what the people of Davistown want.
”During the community consultation workshops we raised concerns about the Future Ecology report commissioned by council which not only failed to document any information on the use of the site by people and their dogs but it also failed to include any impact assessments to determine the likely impacts on species of interest which is a requirement under relevant NSW and Commonwealth legislation,” Mr Row said.
”We were told by a council staff member to get it independently reviewed if we were unhappy so this is exactly what we did and after a concerted effort from Davistown locals we managed to raise $3904 to pay for the Keystone Ecological Report which was presented to council and yourself.
”The author of this report had been approached by Council to compile the original report, so we knew they were a trusted and reliable source.
”Strange then that this was not listed as a document which had informed the latest draft DIOSAP given its findings.
”I’m going to read you a little bit from that report here: The presence of the important species now – after 40 years of almost uninterrupted use of the Pippi Point on a formal basis as OLA – suggest that no significant impacts have manifested.
”Therefore, continued use of the Pippi Point OLA is also unlikely to manifest in significant adverse impacts.
”However, this conclusion is not based solely on the evidence of the past; it is also based on a set of impact assessments.
”These assessments pursuant to the requirements under NSW and Commonwealth legislation determine that a significant adverse impact is unlikely to arise from the continued use of the Pippi Point OLA.
”So there you have it.
”We urge you to make your decision tonight based on what the people want, what the ecological evidence supports, in the interest of saving money and in line with the legislation.
”We urge you to make no changes to the Davistown dog park and not spend any more rate payers money on environmental studies into this area.
”The off-leash area at Pippi point serves the community not just as a dog park but as an outdoor community centre which is the backbone of our little suburb.
”It is a beautiful place where friends are made, problems are solved and possibly most importantly in this context – no birds have ever been harmed nor are ever likely to be,” Mr Row concluded.
Since the meeting, residents have praised Mr Rown and Davistown community for the success of their community action.
