GREATER Taree City mayor, Paul Hogan has angered Harrington community members by using his casting vote to decide whether or not GTCC would buy back land in the community from the Roche Group.
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Roche purchased the land at 823 Harrington Road, Harrington, more than a decade ago with the intention of building a much needed aged care facility on the site.
An agreement was struck between council and the Roche Group at this time, that would allow GTCC to buy back the land for just $1 should development not have started on the site within a certain time frame.
Harrington Community Action Group members descended on the council chambers on Wednesday afternoon for a small demonstration before the start of the ordinary council meeting, where they held placards and voiced their wishes for council to purchase the land back and allow a different developer to come in and build the facility.
"The community's fear was realised at Wednesday's council meeting, where true to form on this issue the mayor and his majority-voting block supported the Roche Group and not the community," HCAG member Bob Smith BM told the Times.
Members of Harrington Community Action Group are now hoping that either Cr Tickle, West, Christianson or Bell change their minds and seek an urgent rescission motion to overturn the motion and support buying the land back; or that the new reviewed and amended MOU is not agreed to, with the general manager enacting the land buy- back. The group wished to thank Crs Epov, Keegan, Jenkins and Jennison for supporting the community on buying back the land.
