THE Save Killalea Alliance has issued a “please explain” regarding the composition of the new park trust.
The State Government last week announced the appointment of the new Killalea State Park Trust Board, which has vowed to further consult with the community.
The new community members on the trust are Chris Homer (deputy chair), Craig Powell (secretary), Sam Edwards (chair), Lynette Cuell (treasurer) and Shellharbour City councillor Helen Stewart.
However, Mrs Stewart will not represent the council; this spot will be filled by Shellharbour councillor Peter Moran.
Crown Lands general manager Graham Harding has also been appointed for the first year of the board’s three-year term.
None of the park’s former board members were included on the seven-person panel, which met for the first time last Thursday.
Save Killalea Alliance spokesperson Mairi Petersen described the appointment of certain members as “odd”.
“I know Chris, Helen, Graham Harding and Peter Moran of course,” she said.
“Surely you’d want people who have expressed some interest in the place... I’ve never heard of those people.
“I assumed I wouldn’t get on, as I’m totally opposed to fees at The Farm.
“Helen Stewart, I’ve never heard her utter one word about Killalea.”
Ms Petersen said she wasn’t yet certain if the new board signalled a fresh start.
“I don’t really know, because I don’t know who these people are or what they think (about Killalea),” she said.
“They may have the best interests of Killalea (at heart), but in the past three or four years, when Killalea has been so much in the news, I’ve never heard anything from these people.”
Warilla surfing identity Chris Homer said after the community had often been at odds with the previous board, greater community consultation was a necessity.
He also said he understood that the community wanted to get to know the people on the board.
“There is a handover process at the moment,” he said. “We’re processing a lot of information and the people (on the board) will be getting out in the community soon.”
Mrs Stewart said she was not a fan of a gate fee, but was a fan of improving the park.
Cr Moran said he was disappointed about the “extreme level of secrecy attached to everything the board does”, referring to confidentiality agreements trust members were asked to sign.
Meanwhile, during a public spat between Cr McCarthy and Kiama MP Gareth Ward last week over Kiama Council’s place on the committee, Cr McCarthy said that council’s representative should be reinstated.
She will include a Mayoral Minute at Kiama Council’s February meeting, calling for a nomination to be represented on the board.
Mr Ward said he would likely have to cut through some red tape to have a Kiama councillor appointed, but was happy to make representations for whoever they put forward.
Email a friend