Sixteen thousand petitioners and 98 per cent of residents and visitors thank Walt Second for honouring his promise to save Lot 490.
He has placed our proposal to make Lot 490 a Regional Park before the NSW Parliament. The NSW Government is hell-bent on selling off crown land. His task is hard enough without being undermined by the Greens.
It would appear our trust in the Greens has been misplaced. Their cynical use of the Aboriginal Land Claim process for political point-scoring is offensive and a blow to the whole community.
The Greens know the backlog of land claims will take 10 or more years to clear. Do they care that the community will find it totally unacceptable for Lot 490 to be left as a dumping ground for rubbish and plaything for vandals?
Do they care that if the Regional Park plan does not succeed some future Aboriginal Land Council could legally sell off Lot 490 for development if their land claim succeeds.
They know that if the land claim fails then any future government could do the same. They know that if the land claim succeeds, the Land Council of the day will be able to negotiate uses within the framework of a Regional Park.
I fear for the Tweed’s remaining natural areas if the Greens are prepared to trade them in some political deal.
The Greens risk dividing the community if they are prepared to exploit the Aboriginal land claim process for some imagined political advantage.
Ron Cooper, Kingscliff
