Fact-checking Kariong Saving Lands Media Releases (what journalists are supposed to do)

Submission deadline extended for Kariong rezoning

Coast Community News/Central Coast News/publishing wing of the GuriNgai Cult and their affiliates, are once again uncritically regurgitating any old nonsense the GuriNgai throw their way, and presenting the information to their readership as if it were factual.

Once again.

Calling foul of the standard public submission process that only recently closed, and the officials overwhelmed by this groups unrelenting misinformation campaigns, various GuriNgai Cult affiliates took the lead in sharing their oddly specific concerns.

Yet they are so muddled in their messaging that it literally makes no sense.

Intent on labeling themselves ‘supporters’ rather than as the opponents of the proposed change, opponents of the proposed development, and especially opponents of the Aboriginal Community; they come undone when trying to explain why ‘supporters’ are expressing “grave concerns” and “shock and dismay” over the way the consultation was handled.

The only voices we get to hear from are of course

Jake Cassar :

https://videopress.com/v/wE3f4WPB?resizeToParent=1&cover=1&autoPlay=0&controls=1&loop=0&muted=0&persistVolume=1&playsinline=0&preloadContent=metadata&sbc&sbpc&sblc&useAverageColor=1

Lisa Bellamy:

and Steven Strong?

For some reason Northern Rivers based ‘eccentric’ Steven Strong did not get quoted by Coast Community News, but this may well be due to wordcount/page space rather than journalistic integrity.

When we look to Australian Rural and Regional News we find Steven Strong and a lot more:

Controversial rezoning proposal sparks outrage amidst missing submissions: Save Kariong Sacred Lands

For instance”

Steven Strong, a concerned community member, raised alarm bells, stating, “Most of the over 3,000 submissions, predominantly against this proposal, have been lost in the system, and the lack of a recovery mechanism is alarming.” Strong added that the customer service representative acknowledged the technical capacity to retrieve lost submissions but expressed suspicion about the circumstances surrounding the loss.“

https://videopress.com/v/QnwNz2jc?resizeToParent=1&cover=1&autoPlay=0&controls=1&loop=0&muted=0&persistVolume=1&playsinline=0&preloadContent=metadata&sbc&sbpc&sblc&useAverageColor=1

We learn Kariong’s self appointed Alien Ambassador for Goolabeen’s Original People and renowned conspiracist Steven Strong is the source of Lisa Bellamy’s repeated lost ‘3000 lost submissions’ figure.

 Australian Rural & Regional News actually took the time to do some fact checking with their sources, and even showed their working at the end.

This timesaver is what we can factcheck today, using only guringai.org as a resource.

ARR.News: Can you give more information about who and how many people are part of the Save Kariong Sacred Lands group and the nature of the group?

Save Kariong Sacred Lands: We are a local group of concerned locals, including local bloodline Traditional Custodians (the GuriNgai Cult) who have formed a group specifically to raise issues surrounding the planned rezoning of the land known as Kariong Sacred Lands, and to protect this land. We have over 600 members. Perhaps a dozen?

ARR.News: What evidence do you have that “over 3,000 submissions, predominantly against this proposal, have been lost in the system”?

Save Kariong Sacred Lands: (NONE, we made it up) Our campaign has been running for almost 4 years with the sole purpose of asking people to put in a submission when the time came. This is a conservative estimate based on:

• the amount of submissions raised by Save Northern Beaches campaign (3700) of a similar nature. 
• We work closely associated with Coast Environmental Alliance (CEA) who have 7.6k members. If only half of CEA members put in a submission that would bring us close to that number. 
• We also have hundreds of people advising us that they have put in a submission.

So we find that Lisa Bellamy and her ‘Save Kariong Sacred Lands’ group are the source of the by claim 3000 submissions were some how ‘lost.’

A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure provided the following response to Australian Rural & Regional News:

The Department is conscious of the strong level of community interest in the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council’s (LALC) proposal at Kariong on the Central Coast.

The Department has received feedback that some people may have experienced communication issues while making submissions on the Planning Portal.

As a result, the deadline for submissions via centralcoast@planning.nsw.gov.au has been extended until Monday 12 February at 5PM.

The Department will ensure any submissions made by email which were unable to be lodged on the Planning Portal will be included as part of the normal process.

The Independent Regional Planning Panel will then consider the proposal, including all submissions received during the initial public exhibition period and emails received up until Monday 12 February.

A response to submissions is expected to be finalised by mid-2024.

The Darkinjung LALC will still need to formally submit any potential development applications through Central Coast Council should the land be rezoned.

This will be subject to a separate public exhibition process.

Background as provided by the Department:

There is a high level of community interest in the planning proposal which is evident from the submissions which were lodged through the Planning Portal prior to the initial Monday 29 January deadline.

The Department understands the community wishes to ensure their feedback and comments are appropriately considered.

There were issues preventing some people from lodging their submissions through the Planning Portal which are now being investigated by the Planning Portal team.

Submissions are also currently being accepted via the Central Coast Mailbox (centralcoast@planning.nsw.gov.au) until Monday 12 February.

The Department’s website and Planning Portal page (https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/ppr/post-exhibition/darkinjung-lalc-kariong-woy-woy-road) have been updated to reflect this change.

The Department exhibited the planning proposal for an extended period of eight weeks from Friday 1 December 2023 to Monday 29 January 2024 to account for the summer holiday period.

The planning proposal includes a draft Development Control Plan to ensure development outcomes are sensitive to the constraints of the site, including the topography, vegetation, and Aboriginal cultural heritage.

But according to fellow Kariong aficionado Mr Steven Strong, there is a great mystery to be solved in unravelling the source of this figure.