Our elected representatives should tread carefully at tonight’s meeting when they decide whether a proposed childcare centre at Thornton should go ahead.
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Expert staff at Maitland City Council recommended earlier this month that councillors should approve a plan for the 84-place facility at Hartley Drive.
The application raised concerns from some nearby business owners, who said that noise and fumes from local industry would be unhealthy for children who attended the centre.
They were also concerned about the traffic issues the centre might cause.
These arguments caught the ear of councillors. They sent the expert staff back to the drawing board to come up with reasons to reject the development plan – even though they had recommended that the development should go ahead.
The mayor of Maitland, Cr Peter Blackmore, was right to ask his councillors to consider a change of heart ahead of tonight’s vote. Why employ expert staff if you are going to tell them what their investigation should conclude?
We want our elected officials to use commonsense and listen to the concerns of the community, but the bottom line is that development approvals are a legal process and any missteps could result in costly legal action.
If an application has ticked the relevant boxes, and in this case council experts believe it has, then that development is legally permissible.
The experts have put it on the public record that the development should be allowed.
When councils are being asked to show how they can be financially fit for the future, it’s a bad look if our elected representatives potentially bring on costly legal action by publicly ignoring expert advice.