ANGRY residents have called on Macarthur's three Liberal state MPs to "do their job" and tell Premier Barry O'Farrell that the Scenic Hills must be protected.
The Advertiser website was flooded with comments last week on the inclusion of two protected Scenic Hills sites at Campbelltown in a Planning Department list of proposed housing developments.
"It comes down to them doing their job or toeing the party line," campaigner Peter Gibbs said.
"People come here for the reason of a green corridor and they've put all their money into a house here only to be monumentally let down."
Labor MP for Macquarie Fields Andrew McDonald also urged the MPs to stand up to the Premier.
He said his own "biggest regret" was that he hadn't spoken out earlier and louder when the former Labor state government planned to sell farm paddocks at Hurl-stone Agricultural High School.
"I was always against that, but I thought that being in the government, working within the government to stop them, was going to be more effective," Dr McDonald said.
"They need to tell Barry O'Farrell, in a respectful way, that this is wrong."
But the three Liberal MPs said there was nothing to worry about.
Camden MP Chris Patterson — whose electorate includes the two Scenic Hills sites — slammed what he called "scaremongering".
He said he supported Campbelltown Council's opposition.
"I'm confident, in this instance, that the council has done all the research and checks that it's needed to," Mr Patterson said.
"The Planning Minister rang me to talk about the areas within my electorate and he assured me that consultation with the council is key in this process and any scaremongering otherwise is just not accurate."
Wollondilly MP Jai Rowell said he would stand by his record as a Campbelltown councillor and his past efforts to protect the hills.
"Unlike the former government, who have dictated to local government, we're consulting with the community and the councils," Cr Rowell said.
Campbelltown MP Bryan Doyle agreed that the hills should be preserved and said he supported the council having the final say.
"Nothing can happen there until the council rezones the land, which I don't think will happen any time soon," he said.
But Campbelltown mayor Anoulack Chanthivong said Mr Doyle was wrong.
The mayor cited a published quote from Planning Minister Brad Hazzard in last Monday's Sydney Morning Herald: "I, as Planning Minister, have the capacity to rezone without [the council's] concurrence".
The fact is, the state government has the power to ignore council, the mayor said. "Unless the minister is happy to correct that, at the moment I can only work with what I've got and those words are on the public record."
Cr Chanthivong said the council had made a submission to the state government and were now waiting to hear back.
Macarthur federal Liberal MP Russell Matheson — a former mayor with a strong record on protecting the Scenic Hills — said he was concerned to see the protected sites included on the Planning Department list.
"Obviously, we need to keep these buffer zones of rural areas between us and Liverpool and us and Camden," Mr Matheson said.
Many frustrated residents agreed with him.
"I'd like it left how it is," Adam Dixon said.
"I was under the impression it was protected and lots of people moved here for that reason."
Campbelltown environmental campaigner Kira Leeon said she was "enraged" when she read the Advertiser's front page last week.
"It spells the destruction of our environment and cultural legacy," she said.
"We're stealing from the future."
Greg Burke, a friar at the Mount Carmel Retreat Centre, said he had hoped the O'Farrell government would return planning matters to councils and he had approved of the abolishment of controversial Part 3A legislation.
"What this seems to be is Part 3A has come back under disguise," he said.
Jacqui Kirkby from the Scenic Hills Association said the lack of action by MPs was a "betrayal".
"The Scenic Hills Association met with Jai Rowell and Bryan Doyle and they both gave us assurance of their commitment to protect the Scenic Hills as it is," she said. "For Jai Rowell this is a total turn around.
"In other electorates, local MPs have stood up to Barry O'Farrell and said this isn't on."
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