THE management of St Albans Common is to stay in residents’ hands, and the community celebrated with a knees-up over the weekend.
President of the St Albans Common Trust Bob Bolin said the announcement “was greeted with excitement and relief by the people of St Albans”.
“To the great credit of our local Hawkesbury member, Dominic Perrottet, and the Minister for Lands and Forestry, Paul Toole, this unique tract of land given by Queen Victoria so many years ago has been preserved and confirmed under its original grant,” he said.
It was particularly gratifying for the Trust that Mr Perrottet acknowledged that “St Albans Common Trust is one of the state’s oldest institutions and an integral part of the local community”.
The common has been under the care of trustees elected by the Commoners of the Macdonald Valley for more than a century. This arrangement had been threatened by the state government’s review of the Commons Management Act last year. It proposed the common be managed by state government appointees who would answer to the minister rather than the community.
Celebrating the government’s acknowledgement of the job they were doing, Mr Bolin confirmed that the trustees “fully appreciate the obligation they owe to the wider community to welcome visitors to the common to enjoy cultural, social, fishing and other events on the Common lands”.
“The balance between sharing and caring for the unique historic, social, cultural, environmental and heritage value of the St Albans Common is one the trustees and the entire village of St Albans share and understand and intend to preserve,” he said.
Hawkesbury MP Dominic Perrottet had gone in to bat for the trust and said the government’s change of heart was a “great outcome”.
“After meeting with Minister Toole on behalf of St Albans residents, I am pleased that their voices were heard by the Government,” he said.
Macquarie MP Susan Templeman made a speech in parliament in support of the commoners and said “I am thrilled the NSW Government has listened to the community”. “This is a victory for the Commoners of St Albans who have fought hard for this result,” she said.
