O
OneEyedMagpie
Guest
So what do you think about Benny Elias becoming the CEO of the new Perth NRL franchise?
Is this in the best interests of the Wests Tigers?
Is this in the best interests of the Wests Tigers?
How Benny put the Bite in Tigers
- Thread starter wtfl1981
- Start date
O'Farrell denies Elias friendship has effect on Rozelle Village
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THE Premier, Barry O'Farrell, has defended himself over allegations his relationship with the footballer-turned-developer Ben Elias may influence the outcome of a $300 million redevelopment of the Wests Tigers' home.
Mr O'Farrell, an avid Tigers supporter who is regularly spotted with Mr Elias at matches, has continued to emphasise the independence of the Planning Assessment Commission which is now considering the controversial Rozelle Village development.
But according to the Greens, who have supplied the Herald with an analysis of the commission's decisions made since the Liberal government was elected, the planning body has become ''little more than a rubber stamp'' for government.
Mr O'Farrell told ABC radio yesterday the Labor councillor Darcy Byrne should ''either put up or shut up'' over allegations the Premier had assisted the Rozelle Village development - which is 50 per cent owned by Mr Elias - by referring it to the commission.
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''There have been no meetings [with Mr Elias] … and if [Cr Byrne] continues to say these things he shouldn't be surprised about what will happen,'' Mr O'Farrell said. ''I'm not going to allow people to make allegations which effectively allege corruption when they're completely and utterly untrue.''
The Rozelle Village development was removed from the jurisdiction of the former Labor government's controversial Part 3A laws in February last year with Mr O'Farrell promising a ''return of local planning powers to local communities''.
But the Rozelle Village development was one of more than 400 projects not returned to local council for approval, referred instead to the commission.
When first asked by a local newspaper last month, Mr O'Farrell said he had never met with Rozelle Village's developers Ian Wright and Kemmori ''Alex'' Yasumoto, but made no mention of Mr Elias.
Two weeks ago the Herald put a series of questions to the Premier, asking how many times he had met Mr Elias and whether the Rozelle Village development was discussed. Mr O'Farrell refused to answer the questions directly, stating only, through a spokesman, that ''the Tigers development is now being assessed - at arm's length from government - by the independent Planning Assessment Commission".
The independence of that body is now being called into question, with the Greens analysis showing an overwhelming rate of approval for developments in the past 18 months.
The analysis found:
446 development applications have been approved and 11 have been rejected.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure made recommendations to approve developments in 98.64 per cent of cases.
The commission agreed with the department's recommendations in 98.87 per cent of cases.
The Greens MP David Shoebridge said the commission had become little more than a formality for developers.
Cr Byrne said yesterday intimidation tactics by the Premier would not convince local residents to give up their opposition to Rozelle Village.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ofarrell-denies-elias-friendship-has-effect-on-rozelle-village-20120726-22vkp.html#ixzz21mHMOks1
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THE Premier, Barry O'Farrell, has defended himself over allegations his relationship with the footballer-turned-developer Ben Elias may influence the outcome of a $300 million redevelopment of the Wests Tigers' home.
Mr O'Farrell, an avid Tigers supporter who is regularly spotted with Mr Elias at matches, has continued to emphasise the independence of the Planning Assessment Commission which is now considering the controversial Rozelle Village development.
But according to the Greens, who have supplied the Herald with an analysis of the commission's decisions made since the Liberal government was elected, the planning body has become ''little more than a rubber stamp'' for government.
Mr O'Farrell told ABC radio yesterday the Labor councillor Darcy Byrne should ''either put up or shut up'' over allegations the Premier had assisted the Rozelle Village development - which is 50 per cent owned by Mr Elias - by referring it to the commission.
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''There have been no meetings [with Mr Elias] … and if [Cr Byrne] continues to say these things he shouldn't be surprised about what will happen,'' Mr O'Farrell said. ''I'm not going to allow people to make allegations which effectively allege corruption when they're completely and utterly untrue.''
The Rozelle Village development was removed from the jurisdiction of the former Labor government's controversial Part 3A laws in February last year with Mr O'Farrell promising a ''return of local planning powers to local communities''.
But the Rozelle Village development was one of more than 400 projects not returned to local council for approval, referred instead to the commission.
When first asked by a local newspaper last month, Mr O'Farrell said he had never met with Rozelle Village's developers Ian Wright and Kemmori ''Alex'' Yasumoto, but made no mention of Mr Elias.
Two weeks ago the Herald put a series of questions to the Premier, asking how many times he had met Mr Elias and whether the Rozelle Village development was discussed. Mr O'Farrell refused to answer the questions directly, stating only, through a spokesman, that ''the Tigers development is now being assessed - at arm's length from government - by the independent Planning Assessment Commission".
The independence of that body is now being called into question, with the Greens analysis showing an overwhelming rate of approval for developments in the past 18 months.
The analysis found:
446 development applications have been approved and 11 have been rejected.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure made recommendations to approve developments in 98.64 per cent of cases.
The commission agreed with the department's recommendations in 98.87 per cent of cases.
The Greens MP David Shoebridge said the commission had become little more than a formality for developers.
Cr Byrne said yesterday intimidation tactics by the Premier would not convince local residents to give up their opposition to Rozelle Village.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ofarrell-denies-elias-friendship-has-effect-on-rozelle-village-20120726-22vkp.html#ixzz21mHMOks1
DonnyBrasco
New member
What a disgrace, and people complain about the old labor government… Sorry this takes the cake. Why even have laws
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As long as Rozelle gets built and starts earning the Wests Tigers some coin, then I am happy.
What a surprise - the Herald runs another anti-Rozelle development story. This development has generated more column inches than Barangaroo lately. Makes you wonder who's got an interest at the SMH…
Benjirific
New member
@Yossarian said:
One of the people heavily involved in the local protest group work at the SMH, so it's really no surprise. The fact the Telegraph haven't even touched it probably shows how much 'outrage' there really has been about it. Also, what a non-story, the Premier denies it but a local councilor who is supportive of everything to the point where he just contradicts himself says he knows Benny. What a scoop! Maybe Mr Byrne needs to listen to the Premier and actually do something about his issues rather than just get his head name and head in the papers and on TV.
DonnyBrasco
New member
@Benjirific said:
You are kidding right? The telegraph isnt even a newspaper, and bazza should worry more about gun violence and less about eating hotdogs at the footy
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[big][big]**Rozelle plan change linked to mates in government**[/big][/big]
_The Balmain Leagues Club … has it moved on? Photo: Simon Alekna_
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A FORMER transport bureaucrat turned developers' consultant with close links to the Obeid family allegedly claimed he could pull strings within government and dramatically increase the scale of Rozelle's controversial Balmain Leagues Club redevelopment.
Despite Rozelle Village's proposal being rejected by planning authorities last year because its two towers, at 16 storeys each, were too high, the proposal now stands before the Planning Assessment Commission at three towers, one of 32 storeys and two at 26 storeys.
The three-tower complex, which would preside over a clutch of narrow streets lined with Victorian terraces and a retail strip on one of Sydney's most congested traffic corridors, would stand 24 metres taller than the pylons of its closest rival, the Anzac Bridge.
The blow-out of the development allegedly occurred after a former Roads and Traffic Authority bureaucrat, Kym Lennox, became involved in the project, according to a submission lodged with the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
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Eddie Obeid jnr, the son of the former right-wing NSW Labor powerbroker and government minister Eddie Obeid, introduced Mr Lennox to Joe Elias, the brother of Ben Elias, who owns 50 per cent of the Rozelle Village development, in 2009.
Mr Lennox was subsequently engaged to project manage a multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the Blackwattle Bay Marina that the state government had awarded to Joe Elias's $2 company, All Occasion Cruises.
At a gathering in Joe Elias's corporate box at a Wests Tigers NRL match later that year, it is alleged Mr Lennox was introduced to Ben Elias, who was by this stage in negotiations with Balmain Leagues Club to sell all its assets to him and his business partners for $1, plus the clearing of a $23.5 million debt.
''In that function [Mr Lennox] declared that we were under-developing the Balmain Leagues Club site,'' the submission, written by Rozelle Village's former project manager Moss Akbarian, states. ''He claimed that he had worked in the department of planning [and] had the connections in the department to get us 10 to 1 [floor space ratio] if we employed him on the project.''
Mr Lennox has strongly disputed this version of events, made by the project manager he deposed. In a written statement he denied he became involved with Rozelle Village through his links with either the Obeid or Elias families.
''No such guarantee would ever exist regardless of any connections,'' he said in response to allegations he claimed he could use government connections to double the scale of the development. ''Our firm has no more connection to the department than any other that has a town planner as an employee.''
The Herald has learnt that subsequent to Mr Lennox's involvement in the project, a series of meetings between Rozelle Village and the Department of Planning resulted in the department's director-general, Sam Haddad, giving the developers the go-ahead to investigate ''alternative building forms'' on the condition they engage a design review panel.
In the terms of reference presented to that panel, however, the gross floor area to be considered had inexplicably expanded, from a maximum of 45,000 square metres to 60,000 square metres.
According to the minutes of the panel's meetings obtained by the Herald, the paucity of detailed information and the sheer density of the proposal were discussed.
But the panel ultimately gave ''qualified support'' for the three-tower, 32-storey proposal, ''based on the panels' terms of reference and material submitted for review''.
Mr Akbarian, who said he has retained meticulous records of all correspondence and contracts while working for Rozelle Village, said he was prepared to sign a statutory declaration and face any legal proceedings in relation to his submission, which is now a public document.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/rozelle-plan-change-linked-to-mates-in-government-20120729-236ib.html#ixzz224W83UnP
_The Balmain Leagues Club … has it moved on? Photo: Simon Alekna_
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A FORMER transport bureaucrat turned developers' consultant with close links to the Obeid family allegedly claimed he could pull strings within government and dramatically increase the scale of Rozelle's controversial Balmain Leagues Club redevelopment.
Despite Rozelle Village's proposal being rejected by planning authorities last year because its two towers, at 16 storeys each, were too high, the proposal now stands before the Planning Assessment Commission at three towers, one of 32 storeys and two at 26 storeys.
The three-tower complex, which would preside over a clutch of narrow streets lined with Victorian terraces and a retail strip on one of Sydney's most congested traffic corridors, would stand 24 metres taller than the pylons of its closest rival, the Anzac Bridge.
The blow-out of the development allegedly occurred after a former Roads and Traffic Authority bureaucrat, Kym Lennox, became involved in the project, according to a submission lodged with the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
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Eddie Obeid jnr, the son of the former right-wing NSW Labor powerbroker and government minister Eddie Obeid, introduced Mr Lennox to Joe Elias, the brother of Ben Elias, who owns 50 per cent of the Rozelle Village development, in 2009.
Mr Lennox was subsequently engaged to project manage a multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the Blackwattle Bay Marina that the state government had awarded to Joe Elias's $2 company, All Occasion Cruises.
At a gathering in Joe Elias's corporate box at a Wests Tigers NRL match later that year, it is alleged Mr Lennox was introduced to Ben Elias, who was by this stage in negotiations with Balmain Leagues Club to sell all its assets to him and his business partners for $1, plus the clearing of a $23.5 million debt.
''In that function [Mr Lennox] declared that we were under-developing the Balmain Leagues Club site,'' the submission, written by Rozelle Village's former project manager Moss Akbarian, states. ''He claimed that he had worked in the department of planning [and] had the connections in the department to get us 10 to 1 [floor space ratio] if we employed him on the project.''
Mr Lennox has strongly disputed this version of events, made by the project manager he deposed. In a written statement he denied he became involved with Rozelle Village through his links with either the Obeid or Elias families.
''No such guarantee would ever exist regardless of any connections,'' he said in response to allegations he claimed he could use government connections to double the scale of the development. ''Our firm has no more connection to the department than any other that has a town planner as an employee.''
The Herald has learnt that subsequent to Mr Lennox's involvement in the project, a series of meetings between Rozelle Village and the Department of Planning resulted in the department's director-general, Sam Haddad, giving the developers the go-ahead to investigate ''alternative building forms'' on the condition they engage a design review panel.
In the terms of reference presented to that panel, however, the gross floor area to be considered had inexplicably expanded, from a maximum of 45,000 square metres to 60,000 square metres.
According to the minutes of the panel's meetings obtained by the Herald, the paucity of detailed information and the sheer density of the proposal were discussed.
But the panel ultimately gave ''qualified support'' for the three-tower, 32-storey proposal, ''based on the panels' terms of reference and material submitted for review''.
Mr Akbarian, who said he has retained meticulous records of all correspondence and contracts while working for Rozelle Village, said he was prepared to sign a statutory declaration and face any legal proceedings in relation to his submission, which is now a public document.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/rozelle-plan-change-linked-to-mates-in-government-20120729-236ib.html#ixzz224W83UnP
The two most important words in that whole sad story are uttered in the first sentence:
A FORMER transport bureaucrat turned developers' consultant with close links to the Obeid family **allegedly claimed** he could pull strings within government and dramatically increase the scale of Rozelle's controversial Balmain Leagues Club redevelopment.
A FORMER transport bureaucrat turned developers' consultant with close links to the Obeid family **allegedly claimed** he could pull strings within government and dramatically increase the scale of Rozelle's controversial Balmain Leagues Club redevelopment.
@DonnyBrasco said:
I fail to see how gun violence in Sydney is relevant to this topic, but if that is how long you want to draw the bow to justify your point, by all means go ahead…
DonnyBrasco
New member
We all know this stinks to the heights of the proposed towers, but who cares, let them build it and lets see all that good money go to the tigers, wonder how much it will be.
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sunshine_coast_tiger
New member
To be honest the SMH has been very biased in their anti development coverage of this site. I have said all along I think they will be approved at about 24 and 20 stories, enough to be a very viable project and a lot bigger than the previous project Jamie Parker and others knocked back.
S
Spiros_Yeeros
Guest
@DonnyBrasco said:
Well,
The Balmain Tigers will need to lease the space from the owners. So Benny will be making money from the Balmain Tigers.
How much will that rent be? Who knows ??
Then the Balmain Tigers will have to get a loan to refurbish the club. That loan will have to be over $10 million dollars. That will be difficult to obtain as they already owe the banks $12 million dollars and they cant pay that loan itself. So how do they get a new one ??
Then they have to hire staff which costs money.
Then they have to get people through the door, something that they were not capable of doing in the years before it closed down.
So for Balmain Tigers Leagues club to make a profit, the club will need a bigger turnover than say Wests Ashfield who turnover tens of millions of dollars a year but profit very little.
Good luck.
All I can see is a disaster.
Benjirific
New member
@Spiros Yeeros said:
A couple of points, they won't need a loan to 'refurbish' the club, it will be a new club purpose built for them, so no loan there. They have staff for two locations at the moment, so I don't think getting more in that service industry will be a problem, or that costly. The current clubs are both running at a profit, so there is no reason why they can't do the same at the new club, which will offer similar style of service. The club's problem was never getting people through the door, rather too many overhead costs associated with wasted space and added taxes and laws. With a smaller, more efficient club space, they have shown they can make money with the other two places and I can't see any reason why this won't be the case again. You're kidding yourself if you think Mr Elias would let the club just die because apparently he's charging too much rent.
The "old" club generally made an operating profit before they took into account extra-ordinary expenses (interest on loans etc). With a new purpose built club there shouldn't be an issue making a profit. The previous club seemed to have a number of problems with the layout and use of space.
DonnyBrasco
New member
Yep, totally agree, all i can see are all the good things to come out of this, hopefully they can get 10000 pokie machines in there that would really bring home some bacon!
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innsaneink
Well-known member
All I see is people posting what ''they want to happen''….theres a massive fence in this thread
Lot of hypocrisy too.
Lot of hypocrisy too.
innsaneink
Well-known member
You see the irony in your post dermit?
