Councillors have warned of potential "calamity" in land use and development in the Mountains after an apparent backflip by the state Planning Department over the draft Local Environment Plan (LEP).
Council has worked with the community for two years to devise an LEP which conforms with the standard plan but also takes into account the Mountains' unique position within a World Heritage Area, its environment, water catchment and the character housing.
But at a meeting on May 15, members of the Department of Planning legal branch told council they would no longer advocate that those key provisions are included.
It would leave the Mountains with an LEP "no different to Hornsby or Chatswood or Auburn or Penrith", the mayor, Mark Greenhill, said when he raised the issue at council's meeting last week.
"After years of work and strong assurances from successive Ministers and senior departmental staff, we now have a rear-guard action from the Department that will deny the Blue Mountains community its identity," he said.
"What we thought was a possible disaster becomes, in fact, a complete calamity. Imagine all of those waterway protections [in the draft LEP] - gone. Imagine the buffer between the city and the national park - gone. Imagine constraints on height - gone. Imagine densities and proper controls over them - gone," he said.
"Imagine, if you will, higher density development from Lapstone to Mt Victoria and imagine a complete loss of local character."
Clr Brendan Luchetti described the move as "skulduggery".
"It is appalling, disgraceful and malevolent skulduggery," he said. "This is an ambush by the bureaucrats... It's completely unacceptable... It's absolutely ridiculous to suggest we would do all that work and have it thrown in the bin.
"There's only one winner in what they are suggesting - the developers; the losers are the environment, our natural and our built heritage."
In a strong show of bipartisanship, deputy mayor and Liberal councillor, Chris Van der Kley, offered his complete support.
"I am totally 100 per cent behind [the mayor]... The bureaucrats are trying to undermine this council and the minister so we really need to fight this at the top level."
Fellow Liberal, Brendan Christie, referred to the BBC comedy Yes Minister, where the bureaucrats famously run the government, rather than the politicians. But in this case, "Yes Minister changes from comedy to a horror documentary".
Clr Greenhill said when Brad Hazzard was planning minister, he had instructed department officers to "safeguard" the Mountains. When he was replaced by Pru Goward, "the department undertook a rearguard action to try to convert our LEP into a state-wide instrument like everyone else".
"We have had a change of minister again [to Rob Stokes] and the rearguard action has commenced again and it seems they may have been more successful. It's to the barricades. We cannot let this happen."
Blue Mountains MP, Trish Doyle, on Friday wrote to Mr Stokes seeking an "urgent assurance" that his department will continue to support the special provisions.
The councillors also voted to seek a meeting with Mr Stokes.
