Residents protest outside Sartor's home - Frankly, we do give a damn

Chanting "we feel Frank's pain", the group said they understood why. Mr Sartor's wife Monique Flannery was fighting a much smaller development behind the couple's Beverley Park home.

But the protesters said that while Ms Flannery can fight that development at local council level, they are unable to do the same as Mr Sartor has seized control of the approval process over the development which will affect their suburb of Putney.

The Daily Telegraph revealed last month that Ms. Flannery had lodged objections to a 74-apartment, four-storey development on the grounds of extra traffic and loss of privacy.

The protesters, from the Coalition Against Private Over-development, said they also faced the loss of their tranquillity but the Putney development would add 10 times as many cars to the area than the one at the back of the Sartor house.

Legislation introduced by Mr Sartor this year allows the planning minister to seize power from local councils and appoint administrators for councils deemed too slow to assess applications.

Using a megaphone outside Mr Sartor's house yesterday, CAPO chairman Rolf Clapham shouted: "We feel your pain, Frank. There's no place for a four-storey development behind your house -we support your wife's fight to stop it.

"We wish you could feel our, pain. We wish you would, support our fight against a much bigger development in our backyards.

"Instead of the 448 extra cars that will go on the road near your place, we'll have an 4500 extra cars."

CAPO and other residents in the Ryde area believe Sartor has not listened to them Mr regarding the planned development at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre site in Putney.

"We are not opposed to any development, we are just saying the planned one is too big," Mr Clapham said.

"But Frank Sartor is too arrogant to listen, he has made up his mind."

Mr Clapham also blamed Ryde MP and Deputy Premier John Watkins for doing nothing to stop the project even though it borders his seat.

"The impact of the development will be felt by all the people living in John Watkins' seat, yet he is doing nothing about it. He needs to show some backbone because if this goes ahead, traffic win clog up Ryde," he said.

Photos: Protest... families against an 800-house development demonstrate outside the home of Planning Minister Frank Sartor (top right) yesterday. Picture ADAM WARD

[The Daily Telegraph July 24 2006 p6]