Your teacher will divide your class up into five (5) groups of 3 or 4 or more students. The groups are
1. The concerned students representing the community as well
2. The local council
3. A developer
4. A major local real estate agent
5. The Land and Environment Court
SPECIAL NOTE: Your very first task is to read through the whole of this webquest so that you know what you have to do, who is involved and what resources you need to access. Make sure that you look at the Process, Assessment and Outcomes in particular as these will give you an idea of the workload. Then each of the groups have special tasks as shown below.
Each group also has it's own special page of advice for researching this topic and preparing your submissions. These can be accessed through the hyperlinks in each section.
Already the Local Council has approved the re-development. This is your appeal to the courts to stop it. This is serious. In order to protect your school your task is to
1. Find out about the Green Bans and how ordinary people in the past have protected Australia's built and natural heritage from re-development.You should investigate, at least, the Kelly's Bush and the Rocks fights.
2. You are to use the experiences of the past to develop a plan of action you might be able to take legally for the protection of your school in the present including, as one aspect, the submission to the courts.
3. You are then to prepare a written submission, to be put to the Land and Environment Court containing your arguments as to why the re-development of the school should be prevented.
4. Present the submission to the Land and Environment Court in front of the other interested groups using appropriate technology. You have some very special advice on how to go about this task.
You have approved the re-development of the old school site. You dont see any reason for it to be kept as a school. Enrolments are falling. The area is being re-developed to suit YUPPIES and DINKS and you see no future for the school. In order to have your interests heard by the Land and Environment Court, your task is to
1. Find out the rights and responsibilities of the council in creating re-developments such as this proposed one and list the advantages and disadvantages of such re-developments for councils and their ratepayers.
2. Draw up a list of actions the council can take with regard to such re-developments.
3. Prepare a written submission to be put to the Land and Environment Court to allow the re-development of the school site to continue.
4. Present the submission to the Land and Environment Court in front of the other interested parties using appropriate technology.
You have some very special advice on how to go about this task.
You have a reputation for developing good medium density housing to suit young people without children. You have been involved in the re-development of this area and see the old school site as just another 10 hectares to be re-developed. In order to have your wishes heard your task is to
1. Investigate the rights and responsibilities developers have in regard to the re-development of sites such as this.
2. Draw up a list of actions you are prepared to take to make this re-development occur.
3. You are then to prepare a written submission to be put to the Land and Environment Court to allow the re-development of the school site. You may find it useful to discuss your arguments with the local council representatives as you are working to achieve the same thing.
4. Present the submission to the Land and Environment Court in front of the other interested parties using appropriate technology.
You have some very special advice on how to go about this task.
4. A major local real estate agent
In order to have your wishes heard your task is to
1. Find out what role the local real estate agents play in these types of re-developments and the subsequent sale of the properties.
2. Draw up a list of advantages to the real estate agency and what they feel will be advantages for the community for the re-development of this site.
3. You are then to prepare a written submission to be put to the Land and Environment Court, in co-operation with the developer and the local council, to allow the re-development of the school site.
4. Present the submission to the Land and Environment Court in front of the other interested parties using appropriate technology.
You have some very special advice on how to go about this task.
5. The Land and Environment Court
1. You are to investigate the rights and responsibilities of the Land and Environment Court in settling issues such as whether sites such as these should or should not be re-developed. Note that the Court only becomes involved in appeals situations where initial approval has been given but there is protest against that decision. Approval has already been given by the NSW Heritage Council, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Sydney Harbour and Foreshore Authority. Investigate what role these groups play in such decisions.
2. You should also use the judgements made as a result of previous battles to judge the value of this case. Look at the battles over Kelly's Bush, the Rocks and the Queen Victoria building in particular. Work out why the other authorities would have given their approval for this school re-development on the basis of what you found out about their role in the other developments above.
3. You are then to listen to the submissions put to the Court by the other interested parties and write a judgement.
4. Present your findings and your decision to the interested parties using appropriate technology.
You have some special advice on how to go about this task.
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