Blue Mountains Gazette By Damien Madigan 30 Jun, 2010 09:54 AM
April 2011 is the most likely date for a poll to decide the controversial Springwood town centre issue after council voted to ask for detailed proposals from Coles, Woolworths and the Jamieson Property Group last Tuesday.
The three companies will be asked to submit detailed proposals following the 7-4 vote, which was criticised for ignoring the results of a council-commissioned phone survey on the issue.
"The people of the Springwood community told this council through the IRIS phone survey that they do not want the upgrade of existing community facilities on this site to be followed by a retail supermarket complex, or for that matter any co-operative development project with a for-profit organisation or company," said Ward 3 councillor Brendan Luchetti.
He said council had failed to investigate getting government grants to pay for upgraded facilities like the library and civic centre.
But Blue Mountains mayor Adam Searle said there was no guarantee that proposals from any of the three companies would even satisfy council's requirements to upgrade community facilities.
"The process will now be to see whether any of the proponents can put forward to council a proposal that is even worth putting to the community. If they do, that specific proposal will be put before the community to vote on - yes or no. If the community through the poll says no, that will be the end of the matter," he said.
The Labor mayor came under strong attack from deputy mayor Janet Mays over the Springwood issue after last week's meeting.
"The mayor has failed absolutely as the mayor of this city. I am shocked that he has engaged in the misguided actions of his party colleagues and ignored the findings of a reputable survey," she said.
The independent councillor also predicted a difficult path ahead for council in the fall-out from last week's bitter meeting.
"This council has reached a new low and in doing so we seriously failed not only the community of Springwood but the people of the broader Blue Mountains. I wonder how this council will now function moving forward," she said.