Ballina Shire residents hit with extra Crown land rents
The State Labor Government is jeopardising the future of community facilities in the Ballina electorate by significantly increasing rent on Crown Land, Member for Ballina Don Page said.
In a speech to the Lower House, Mr Page condemned the Iemma Labor Government for threatening the viability of several vital community facilities by imposing commercially based rents.
“Ballina Shire Council has recently received notification from the Department of Lands that the rent for the Crown Land on which the Ballina Public Library, Visitor Information Centre and Richmond Room are located will be substantially increased from the current figure of about $19,000 to $90,000 per annum — a 470 per cent increase,” Mr Page said.
“Following objections from the council, the Department of Lands agreed to reduce the revised rent to $45,000 per annum. This is simply not viable for the council, which already outlays $810,000 per annum to provide these important facilities to the community.
“After wasting the proceeds of ten years of economic sunshine in NSW due to the property boom, this greedy Government is now charging exorbitant rents for community facilities. This Government has no regard for the importance of community facilities, their role in keeping communities together and the social benefits they provide.
“Ballina Shire Council has also been advised that in order for a planned, and very much needed, community centre at Williams Reserve at Lennox Head to go ahead, the centre must pay a commercially based rent to the NSW Government.
“This in itself is a ludicrous notion as a community centre is simply by nature not a profit-raising development.
“It must be noted that the initial request for the Government to acquire Williams Reserve as Crown Land in 1952 was made by the council on behalf of the Lennox Head Progress and Ratepayers Association. The Department of Land’s agreement was conditional on council paying half the cost of the acquisition and all processing costs.
“So it comes as a cruel slap in the face to Ballina Shire ratepayers that they are now being told by the NSW Government the centre must raise revenue purely to bolster the NSW Treasury, when council paid half of the original acquisition costs of the land.
“Council is expending significant monies on building the community centre and the additional burden of paying a commercially based rent could seriously jeopardise the future of the community centre.
“The NSW Government is putting revenue raising above the needs of the Ballina Shire community, both in Ballina and Lennox Head. This greedy Labor Government in Sydney is effectively depriving communities of much needed facilities.”
