Liberal Councillors Issue an Apology to Lane Cove Independents

In the March 2023 edition of The Village Observer, three Liberal Councillors inserted the following paid advertisement.

The ad was published during the NSW State Election campaign, where an independent was standing in the Lane Cove Electorate.

The advertisement was endorsed by Councillors Bennison, Brooks Horn and Mort.  It did not refer to the Liberal Party.

The advertisement contained statements which the Independents alleged were false.

The Village Observer removed the advertisement from its digital edition.

Response from Independents

Councillors Merri Southwood and Bridget Kennedy told In the Cove the following:

“The Village Observer (TVO to many) is seen by the community as a valuable source of information about happenings in the Lane Cove area.

It was distressing, therefore, to see an advertisement on page 31 of the March 2023 issue of the TVO with false information targeted at the two independent councillors of Lane Cove.

As the only two candidates elected on an independent ticket at the last local government elections, the notice is clearly referring to us.

The advertisement stated that we voted to cancel a contract to build nine multi-sport courts and a function centre. It also said our vote to cancel the contract cost the community $18 million in additional costs.

When we took office in January 2022, a Council DA for a nine- court facility was awaiting determination by the Sydney North Planning Panel (SNPP).

Some Councillors had concerns about the environmental impacts of the proposed development on the golf course and wanted to explore other locations for the development as well as the possibility of joint venturing with other councils.

With six of nine Councillors having been newly elected, several Councillors thought it important that the DA warranted more consideration by them before it was determined by the SNPP.

On 24 January 2022, 7 of 9 Councillors voted to seek a deferral of the SNPP hearing to allow for a more detailed review.

Cllr Brooks-Horn declared a conflict of interest and did not vote.

Cllr Bennison voted against the motion.

On 28 February 2022 Council voted to withdraw the nine court DA from the SNPP in order to consider all available options to meet the demand for sporting facilities in the Lane Cove area.

Cllr Brooks-Horn declared a conflict of interest and did not vote.

Cllrs Bennison and Mort voted against the motion.

We now have a DA for an eight-court option approved by the SNPP and construction of the facility has begun.

At the time of the advertisement, no contract had been negotiated or signed for the building of nine multi-sport courts and a function centre.

We DID NOT vote to cancel a contract to build the centre – there was no such contract.

We were at a loss to know how Cllrs Bennison, Brooks-Horn and Mort have come up with a figure of $18 million in additional costs to the community as a consequence of the cancellation of a contract that has never existed.

After the advertisement, we wrote to the liberal councillors and asked them to issue an apology.

The NSW Electoral Office was also sent copy of the advertisement and was advised of our concerns.”

After the advertisement was published, ITC asked Lane Cove Council to confirm the statement made by the Councillors about the $18 Million dollar loss.  A Lane Cove Council spokesperon provided us with the following comment:

“We haven’t calculated the cost of the delays with the Sport & Recreation precinct.”

Apology

In the November 2023 edition of The Village Observer, a paid apology was published.  The apology is set out in full below.

We sent a copy of this article to Councillors Bennison, Brooks Horne and Mort and asked fro their comments, as at the date of publication of this article they have not contacted ITC.

Councillor Bridget Kennedy Issues An Apology

“On 2 November, Councillor Bridget Kennedy published the following on Instagram about a video published during the election campaign in 2021.

It’s certainly been an action-packed Council Term with apologies and the election of a new Mayor!!