Residents in Chippendale and Darlington
are being letter boxed to make donations to the legal challenge. In Chippendale
cheques up to $500 have been received so the community is getting behind the
litigation.

A main public fundraiser will be at the Guthrie theatre at
UTS (enter from Harris St)
on Wed July 11th from 6.30pm – 9.30pm. We’ll start with some Lebanese food  (drinks available for purchase) and speakers
will follow – I’ll be able to confirm the line-up in the next few days – cost
$30 per head. For more information contact FOCUS focus@pacific.net.au or Deputy Lord Mayor
Chris Harris.

The background to the legal challenge has been provided
below by Chris Harris:

How it began

 

• Matthew
  Drake Brockman, a full time law student and resident in the City of Sydney came forward
  and sought my advice on how the approval of the concept plan for the CUB
  site at Chippendale could be overturned so that proper environmental
  controls and standards could be incorporated into a new approval.  It is Matthew’s view that the proposed development
  of the site is not ecologically sustainable and that it ignores greenhouse
  gas emissions which are the drivers of climate change. I enlisted the help
  of former solicitor and environmental coach Michael Mobbs.
• We
  wrote to Fosters and asked them to meet with Matthew, Michael Mobbs and
  myself so that we could agree on ESD improvements to the development. I
  spoke personally to Foster’s CEO Mr Trevor O’Hoy and repeated the
  invitation. His response was that they did not want to talk to us and that
  they just wanted to sell the site for as much money as possible. They
  believe that they did all that was required of them environmentally
  (follow BASIX) and that they weren’t willing to do any more.
• There
  are now reports that the site has been sold to a Singaporean Company
  Fraser Greencliff

 

The Environmental Defenders Office

 

• We
  approached the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) to see if the EDO would be willing to act for Matthew in an action
  against the Minister for Planning and Fosters. The EDO decided to take on the case.

 

The legal Aid Commission

 

• We
  then sought legal aid to fund the case for Matthew. The Legal Aid
  Commission in NSW is able to provide funding for environmental public
  interest litigation and looks at three main things in order to decide on a
  legal aid grant. Firstly it applies a public interest test, then it
  requires that the case has reasonable prospects of success and finally it
  looks at the litigants means. The Legal Aid Commission, which is partly
  funded by the state & federal governments, was satisfied that the case
  had merit and was of broad public interest. The commission provided a
  small grant of $3000 so that further advice from a senior counsel could be
  sought in order to doubly establish the merits of the action. Nye Perram
  SC was engaged for this advice. 

 

The ESD Argument

 

• It is
  clear that the CUB site presents an opportunity to capture and recycle
  water & sewage on a large scale, to generate significant amounts of
  renewable energy, to use construction methods that will reduce emissions
  and to operate with minimal use of cars. If you go to my website at www.chrisharris.org.au you
  will find a report prepared by Michael Mobbs that gives estimates of
  greenhouse gas emissions from each of these above sources. The report also
  gives estimates of how those emissions can be dramatically reduced by
  adopting ESD design & construction practices.
• The
  CUB is a huge urban development site. If it goes ahead without incorporating
  ESD requirements this site will pump out damaging greenhouse gas emissions
  for 50 years. There is no doubt that this will cause significant
  irreversible harm to our environment and that of our children on a long
  term basis. Moreover this concept plan will be a blueprint for how our
  cities develop in future. 
• In the
  Anvil Hill case the judgment required that the minister consider ESD
  aspects of the development of a coalmine. Here we are inviting the court
  to make the same judgment about a large urban development site. It’s
  a watershed case which brings climate change to the heart of our cities;
  win or lose city planning won’t be able to avoid dealing with climate
  change due to this case.

 

Fundraising for our expenses

 

• The EDO has engaged top class legal practitioners to
  argue our case. The senior counsel is the brilliant Francis Douglas QC and
  his junior counsel is Jason Lazarus who is a very talented and experienced
  practitioner in the Land and Environment
  Court. We have also engaged an expert witness
  who will quantify the climate change effects of the development and give
  evidence in the hearing which is listed for 25^th and 26^th
  July. 
• I
  have launched a fundraising drive from my office on 13^th June
  and we began by contacting everyone in Chippendale by mail asking
  individuals to make a donation or a loan /donation. We have received
  numerous contributions via cheque, direct transfer and credit card and by
  20^th June we had received $3000. We will be writing to Darlington residents next and we hope to get a good
  response from residents there who will also be badly affected by this
  disastrous development.
• I
  have also listed a notice of motion for the council meeting due on 25^th
  June that asks council to contribute $20000 towards the litigation. The Clover Moore team has been very vocal about the
  Minister’s actions in calling in the CUB development and have claimed to
  be strong advocates for the Chippendale community. I will be expecting
  them to put some real action behind their words by backing my notice of
  motion.
• We
  will also be holding a fundraiser at the Guthrie Theatre at UTS on 11^th
  July which will feature leading speakers and a further update on the legal
  case. There will be a light Lebanese meal provided and the cost will be in
  the vicinity of $30. The maximum attendance possible is 300 so we would
  appreciate it if you can call and order tickets in advance. I can be
  contacted at Sydney
  town Hall on 9265 9313 or by mobile 0407 469 384.
• We
  have also written to many “green”businesses and environmental groups
  seeking financial support. We will continue this right up to the hearing.
  If you would like to make a loan /donation please send me an email.