Greens do piss me off


GOVERNMENT PANDERS TO GREENS IN FINAL APPROVAL FOR HILLTOP REGIONAL SHOOTING COMPLEX.

Shooters Party MLC Robert Brown today accused the Government of caving in to the Greens in its final approval for the Hilltop Regional Shooting Complex.

“Shooters are bitterly disappointed at the decision, especially given the whole process started three years ago when the Bill to create the complex was passed by Parliament.

“They were entitled to expect that once the Bill was passed, the planning processes would quickly follow, but what they got instead was obfuscation and delays caused by NIMBY’s and greenie threats.

“It even went to an Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel, which supported its development but basically what the Government has now approved is severely restricted shooting days, and even more bizarrely, banned shooting on public holidays.

“Hilltop is a major regional shooting complex and the Government has decided that there will be no competitions on the traditional long weekends, including Easter.

“This decision has more to do with the Government retaining the seats of Marrickville and Balmain in Sydney, than helping the long suffering and rangeless shooters of the Southern Tablelands, Illawarra and South Coast, who have been waiting for nearly 30 years for a permanent home.

“This complex is costing more than $5 million. It should be used to its maximum capacity.

“What the Greens don’t tell people is that to offset the Hilltop site, 552 hectares will go to the Yengo National Park as the Phoenix Pistol club moves to Hilltop, 300 hectares will be added to the Dharawal Recreation Reserve when the Illawarra Regional Shooting Association moves to Hilltop, and 2,000 hectares of Crown Land will be added to Bargo Recreational Reserve.

“The Government has made a claytons decision on this issue and they should be on notice The Shooters Party will be relentless in pushing for adequate utilisation of the Hilltop site.” Mr Brown said.