Fighting fund to save Manly Oval from carpark construction raises $10K in five days

A FIGHTING fund set up by residents and businesses to battle plans to build a carpark under Manly Oval has raised $10,000 in five days.

Jack Steggall, president of the Save Manly Oval Alliance, and its secretary Roger Freney, at Manly Oval. Picture: Troy Snook.

A FIGHTING fund set up by residents and businesses to battle plans to build a carpark under Manly Oval has raised $10,000 in five days.

Save Manly Oval Alliance president Jack Steggall criticised former Manly Council’s submission of a development application to build a carpark under the oval to the Joint Regional Planning Panel.

“They did it in the eleventh and a half-hour, right before they were amalgamated,” Mr Steggall said.

“There was a lot of old information in the DA for the oval and I think they rushed that. Some things haven’t been brought up to date and they have just used old stuff to get it through in time.”

The group hopes to raise $40,000 for legal costs, with plans to have a lawyer represent it at the JRPP.

It also plans to seek expert reports for hydrology, traffic and environmental impacts to present to the panel.

A council spokesman said the expressions of interest for tenders for the carpark closed 10 months ago and the process has been “in no way rushed”.

“The final design was guided by tender document which provided a detailed concept for the proposal,” he said.

“No one knew about the announcement on mergers. The DA was lodged when it was ready for lodgement.”