The possibility of Morpeth being placed on the State Heritage List appears dead in the water after Maitland Councillors rejected an appeal for a program of community consultation on Tuesday night – a decision that has been slammed by some residents as “disgusting”.
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Councillors fiercely debated whether to reconsider their October decision in which a seemingly mundane recommendation to consult Morpeth community members on a State plan to list Morpeth as a heritage conservation area was overturned.
Following the October meeting, the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) requested for a meeting to clear up “misinformation” that appeared in local news and social media.
The meeting took place on January 30, with OEH subsequently writing to council requesting the earlier decision be reconsidered.
However, Cr Mitchell Griffin moved a motion that council instead note the acceptance of the letter and reaffirm their earlier stance.
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He was supported by Cr Phil Penfold, who said he “can't support starting a process that will take years to solve" during which time he argued uncertainty over heritage listing would impact property values.
Cr Robert Aitchison took aim at the comments, saying “once again we have some mistruths spread among the community".
He said it was “comical” that council wouldn’t engage in consultation with the Morpeth community, adding: “Nobody is asking you to sign a piece of paper now”.
He was followed by Cr Donald Ferris, who was cautioned by Mayor Loretta Baker to use councillors’ appropriate titles after saying: “I think what we see the Penfold block doing is running a scare campaign typical of conservative politicians”.
Cr Nicole Penfold spoke about her belief that the listing would adversely impact those borrowing to buy in the area, citing her background in finance.
Cries of "it’s rubbish" and "scare tactics" came from the gallery after Cr Penfold spoke.
Councillors Yarrington, Garnham, Griffin, Ranadive, Halliday, Mitchell and both Penfolds voted for Griffin’s motion. The five Labor councillors voted against it.
Morpeth Heritage Conservation Group president Simon Brooker slammed the decision afterwards, calling it “disgusting”.
“They’re not allowing the community to have a say on it,” he said. He reaffirmed that the group would still push for the consultation by contacting OEH directly.
