Dr Ben Balzer, president of the community association Revive Beverly Hills United (RBHU) centre, with Dr George Han and Dr Akaash Goyal.
Three local GPs are united in their prognosis - the Beverly Hills town centre is suffering from "terminal planning paralysis and should be rushed to the ICU.
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The doctors addressed Georges River Council's public forum on May 18 calling for planning controls for Beverly Hills to be handed over the the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
Dr Ben Balzer, president of the community association Revive Beverly Hills United (RBHU), joined Dr George Han and Dr Akaash Goyal to speak in support of Councillor Ben Wang's notice of motion calling for the NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces to assume control of the Beverly Hills Master Plan.
"From a medical perspective the diagnosis for Beverly Hills is grim," Dr Balzer said. "It is currently in the ICU. It is suffering from a terminal disease of planning paralysis.
Stagnation
The doctors argued that local political obstruction has acted like a "cancer" for local business, aggressively eating away at the local economy and leading to severe stagnation.
Dr Balzer formed Revive Beverly Hills United in response to the council's risk analysis on the Moomba to Sydney gas pipeline.
Residents objected to a planning proposal by the council to impose 200-metre "Activity Hazard Risk Map" which would appear as a notation on 10.7 Planning Certificates for properties along the Beverly Hills section of the pipeline.
Georges River Council mayor Elise Borg has previously said that the planning restrictions would only affect placing sensitive land uses - such as hospitals or aged-care facilities - within the defined buffer zone.
"Residents can be confident that Georges River Council is meeting the State Government's safety criteria and ensuring that any future growth or new development around the pipeline occurs safely for both current and future residents," Councillor Borg said.
Dr Balzer said the council's response to the gas pipeline risk was overstated.
He described the council's safety concerns as a convenient delay tactic influenced by anti-development voting.
"The council has spent a decade producing shifting justifications and manufactured environmental risks to block much-needed housing and renewal," Dr Balzer said.
"The Moomba to Sydney pipeline has been repurposed from ethane natural gas, with updated state hazard analyses confirming the societal risk is negligible," he said.
Rezoning
Dr Balzer also highlighted the sheer economic magnitude of what the council is obstructing.
He pointed to the State-Assessed Rezoning Proposal (SARP) at 407-511 King Georges Road-a massive $403.7 million urban renewal initiative encompassing 52 contiguous allotments across the entire western commercial core. He noted this state-assessed pipeline proposes up to 14,015 square metres of new retail and commercial floorspace, generating over 500 permanent operational jobs that the local economy desperately needs.
"Concerns about the pipeline are being used to limit Beverly Hills' potential. Local businesses and property owners say the uncertainty is affecting livelihoods and impacting investment in the suburb," he said.
- Turn to Page 12
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