HAWKESBURY Council will prepare a plan of management for Thompson Square, which will be at odds with a similar plan created by Roads and Maritime Services.
Council staff noted in a report on the RMS’ Strategic Conservation Management Plan (SCMP) of Thompson Square, that there were some inconsistencies in the report.
A CMP is a guide for how an area, in this case Thompson Square after the Windsor Bridge Replacement Project has been finished, should be maintained.
At the July 11 meeting, Council voted to create its own Conservation Management Plan (CMP) and provide it to the RMS.
The vote also saw Council state it did not agree with the RMS’ SCMP, and would write to Member for Hawkesbury Dominic Perrottet and inform him of the ‘inconsistencies’ in the report.
Greens councillor Danielle Wheeler said the SCMP was littered with problems.
“It's a poor document that does not meet the requirements of the government’s own heritage legislation,” she said.
“It's full of inconsistencies, lacks expertise and does not provide sufficient analysis or protections for this unique and nationally important area.”
Hawkesbury Mayor Mary Lyons-Buckett said the RMS plan fell short of what was needed.
“What they did was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the legislation,” she said.
“It did not cover the whole conservation area nor include a heritage impact statement which any development containing a heritage-listed item is required to have.”
Council’s resolution also said that the area of Thompson Square in its CMP should be larger than it appeared in the RMS plan, and include not just the grassy areas, but the surrounding buildings as part of of the square.
Council will restart a CMP it had originally started drawing up, but then abandoned because the RMS was completing its SCMP.
The Liberal Party questioned whether it was a waste of ratepayer money.
“We do not support Council undertaking its own CMP at a cost to Hawkesbury ratepayers...when the RMS had just undertaken a similar exercise,” said Sarah Richards.
“The more cost and time effective approach would be, as I suggested, for Councillors to work together on a response to the RMS highlighting any inconsistencies.”
However, the Mayor said a CMP was a crucial document and it simply needed to be done.
“I do not consider preparation of a conservation management plan to be a waste of money,” the Mayor said.
An RMS spokesperson said the SCMP would be a guide for the conservation of Thompson Square and the surrounding area. They said the RMS would accept all feedback, and the project was expected to begin within the financial year.
Independent councillor Peter Reynolds was absent from the debate after declaring a conflict of interest.
Liberal councillors Patrick Conolly, Tiffany Tree and Sarah Richards voted against the motion.
