Suffolk Park Progress Association leadership reveal links with developer

The President and Secretary of the Suffolk Park Progress Association (SPPA) have revealed they both have ‘conflicts of interest’ in connection with a major development proposal in Suffolk Park.

The Sydney-based company Denwol, which owns the development site, previously had their residential and commercial development application (DA) for a large area in Clifford Street rejected by Byron Shire Council in 2022, and Land and Environment Court in 2023.

The company is now planning a new DA for the site and seeking feedback on plans in the pre-DA stage.

In an initial newsletter sent earlier this month to SPPA members by President Kelly Minahan, he noted SPPA would not ‘promote or oppose’ development, yet at the same time stated, ‘This marks the third DA in this area’ and described the development as ‘a genuine opportunity… to enhance and beautify our village’ which appeared ‘sensitive to both community sentiment and environmental concerns’. However, there was no mention of any conflict of interest related to the development.

Last Thursday The Echo sent a series of questions to Mr Minahan, about any connections he may have had with the proposed Clifford Street development.

Mr Minahan responded saying, ‘A conflict of interest register is maintained. Conflicts are declared, registered, minuted, and resolved. Where those resolutions are adopted in meetings, a subcommittee is formed and that party is recused from deliberation and decision making.’

Conflict of interest

Two days later a new SPPA newsletter informed members, ‘the President and Secretary have declared conflicts of interest in relation to this matter’ and a new SPPA subcommittee had been created to ensure community consultation on the issue remained ‘independent’. No details were provided about whether the conflicts with the development involved financial or other arrangements, or how long-standing they were.

The current SPPA leadership was already under pressure after a majority of committee members resigned last month, and called for release of their resignation letter. The letter has not been released, with Mr Minahan telling The Echo it is not a public document. Former committee members have been replaced with five new members according to the SPPA constitution.

One committee member who resigned, Tony Christie told The Echo, ‘The local SPPA needs to provide a voice that is beyond reproach, especially concerning perceived and actual conflicts of interest. I resigned because I was not satisfied these were being managed appropriately.’

Lynne Richardson, another SPPA committee member who resigned said, ‘In my opinion, the handling of community engagement processes connected with the latest development concept for Clifford Street is deeply alarming. Especially concerning conflicts of interest.’

Christie and Richardson were part of the campaign which saw the original Denwol development proposal rejected by the Land and Environment court.

Ms Richardson told The Echo this week that in her view the current proposal was an improvement on last time, as it preserves the coastal cypress pines, part of an endangered ecological community, and creates internal new asset-protection zones.

However, in her view there are similar concerns as raised previously including bulk, scale, density, traffic, a design incompatible with the character of Suffolk Park, the removal of 22 trees and loss of affordable housing currently on site.

The developers are currently holding ‘community information sessions’, as appointment-only private meetings, rather than public meetings.

‘Given the importance of this issue, and in response to requests, a public meeting will take place at the Park Hotel, on Saturday at 10am,’ says Mr Christie, ‘to provide the community with background, updated information and address concerns independently of the developer and SPPA.’