Highly Significant Grey Box refused protection. Sorry to say. Happy 2025

Happy New Year lovely Supporters

- unfortunately good news for the Grey Box is hard to find - it seems - at present.

Google maps has captured the awful truth... The special Toongabbie Trees are still under an threatening cloud of 'approved demolition'.

Unfortunately the previous Lord Mayor's wishes to deliver the Amenities Rebuild for Girraween Park may have been based on inadequate content in the 2015 Plan of Management for the Park.

Destruction of the remnant Grey Box did not need to be intentional or unintentional but it appears the Council, Staff, CEO and Planning Panel that gave Development Approval early in 2024, all did not take the "Alternative Location Request" for our Petition seriously or provide any reasons against this logical and reasonable community request. 

Further we are not advised that the Petition was adequately tabled, considered or included as key Objection to the Planning Panel, if not even misrepresented as a detailed submission to the DA.

An objection to the Local Government Ombudsperson Office that the Planning Panel may not have received and considered all the Petition was asking as a procedural failure, was rejected as the Office does not investigate "planning matters".

What we do know is that remnant Old Growth, living heritage and wildlife habitat of these trees do not have to be demolished to achieve only a few of the Plan of Management Objectives (flawed that they are) - and the entire year that has since passed has been a lost opportunity (and wasted time) for the Council to revise and improve the honest Environmental credibility of its $3.4M Amenities facility at Girraween Park. 

The Cloud over Toongabbie is looking sadly grey for 2025, when the Grey Box deserve  a silver-lining future for tall shade, wildlife, birds, biodiversity and "Connection to Country" for ALL the community, and sports users alike.