The sudden approval of the Calderwood development plan surprised many people. This massive new subdivision was on a flood plain and would neutralise prime agricultural land - and it ran counter to the regional master plan which zoned West Dapto as the primary release area for new housing.
Now we find that the developer made an undisclosed " donation " to the Labor government of $ 48,000. This broke a law that required any donations made prior to a government decision to be fully revealed. The omission is explained away as a mere " departmental oversight ".
So - where do we go from here ?
Calderwood will be flick passed to the Independent Planning Assessment Commission for further investigation - and we are heading to a state election in just over a month.
Obviously this election will take centre stage and the Calderwood matter will be lost from public attention until the dust settles - and then the election outcome will have a direct result on any changes that are made.
But what really matters is the fact that political donations remain a festering sore that will not go away until we put serious laws in place to deliver real penalties.
There should be no more " departmental oversights " if such outcomes resulted in an automatic gaol term for those responsible !
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