White Bay consultation not meaningful, says council

Inadequate consultation with residents is at the centre of the debate around the proposed cruise ship terminal in White Bay.

Sydney Ports has announced two community workshops for residents to discuss options for public access to the proposed terminal. But Leichhardt Mayor Rochelle Porteous said the Ports Authority has failed to conduct “meaningful” consultation.

Leichhardt Council said the scope of the consultation should be widened to include traffic and parking, landscaping and the terminal’s impact on air quality, light and noise.

“We are very disappointed that Sydney Ports did not agree to work constructively with Council,” Ms Porteous said. “We can’t accept that a session looking only at the location of access and restricted to 30 participants selected by Sydney Ports in any way meets community and council expectation in terms of consultation.”

Sydney Ports told City News it tried to cooperate with Leichhardt Council, and started its own consultation process due to a lack of communication.

It said it notified the Council on December 17 of its intention to run community workshops, and did not receive a response for one month.

Cr Porteous said that was misleading, and that Ports never intended substantial community consultation. “They only wanted to consult with officers in council. I said that’s not negotiable. When you consult with Leichhardt Council, you have to communicate with the community.”

The Ports workshop will consist of 12 residents, selected randomly from the 20 who responded to a letterbox invitation, five Leichhardt Councillors, members of the Balmain Rozelle Chamber of Commerce and representatives of the Glebe Island White Bay Community Liaison Group.

Leichhardt Council has meanwhile begun its own series of consultative workshops; one took place on February 7 and another two are scheduled for February 20 and March 5.

In an email to City News, Sydney Ports said: “It would serve no valid purpose to double up on public meetings.”

Friends of White Bay president Michael Lehmann said the terminal needed to be put on hold so that the government could seek input from the Bays Precinct Task Force and a report on the naval use of Garden Island, currently before Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

The announcement that Thales Australia, a defence contractor, will move its operations away from Garden Island also frees up potential space for cruise ships to dock.

Mr Lehmann said it was good to see consultation being attempted, but it would be better if Ports and Council cooperated.

“We have no idea as to what extent Sydney Ports will take [the findings] on board, or whether it is designed to rubber-stamp what they have proposed,” he said.

“We are a bit dismayed that there are two different processes going. They really should find a way to work together.”