More than 120 people attended a protest rally in Katoomba on Saturday to urge the state government to protect the draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) for the Blue Mountains.
Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill warned the area's world heritage status was at risk if moves by the NSW Planning Department to water down the LEP were successful.
"An LEP may not appear sexy but it is incredibly important. It's about how this city looks, but more importantly it's about the environment around it," the Labor mayor told the event at Civic Place.
"If we didn't have a local environment plan that appropriately managed our interaction with the world heritage around us, we could lose it [world heritage status]."
Former mayor and Liberal Party councillor Daniel Myles was angry the community was being forced to fight a battle it thought it had already won.
While previous NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard had supported the draft LEP for the Mountains, this position was re-examined under future ministers, he said.
"We are absolutely united on this issue... This isn't a political issue but it is up to politicians to bring it to an end. Only the Minister for Planning, Rob Stokes, can do that," he said.
Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle said there was "nothing standard about the Blue Mountains" so it deserved to be exempt from standard LEPs used elsewhere in the state.
"I want to assure you that I will not be quiet on this. I will be wandering the corridors [of parliament], I will be speaking in the chamber, I will continue writing letters, I will talk to our media," she said.
The Blue Mountains Conservation Society, which organised the rally, welcomed the bipartisan support on the issue.
"The rally amply demonstrated the broad political support for the draft LEP 2013, with Labor, Liberal, Independent and Greens representatives attending", said Blue Mountains Conservation Society vice president Tara Cameron.
A petition and prepared email on the issue can be found on the society's website at bluemountains.org.au.
