Fight For A Fairer Hills Future
A major petition and campaign has just been launched by Hills Shire Council calling for the State Government to fund vital infrastructure upgrades before more appartments are built and thousands more people move into the area.
The Fight for a Fairer Hills Future campaign was launched by Hills Shire Mayor Dr Michelle Byrne last week in Kellyville alongside Old Windsor Road, which is struggling to cope with booming populations in The Hills Shire, Blacktown and Hawkesbury council areas.
The one square kilometre Kellyville-Bella Vista precinct has been rezoned by the State Government to allow more than 11,600 apartments housing more than 23,000 people.
Dr Byrne said : “According to the NSW Government’s own housing targets, The Hills Shire is the fastest growing local government area in the state and our residents are fed up with the lack of funding for critical infrastructure like roads, schools and sporting fields.
“Windsor and Old Windsor Roads are already at a standstill during the morning and afternoon peaks and if you think it’s bad now, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
A council staff member road-tested the commute from Gables to Norwest every day for five days during the morning peak. The average time taken for the 18km drive was 45 minutes and the average speed never made it above 24 km/h.
“If it’s like this now – imagine what it will be like in 2041 when the population of our Shire booms by another 71 per cent to 328,600 people,” said Dr Byrne.
Jason Owen, President of the Sydney Hills Business Chamber lives in Pitt Town and says his journey to Norwest on weekdays can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 70 minutes depending on the time of day.
With 350 members, the Sydney Hills Business Chamber is one of the largest in NSW. “The overall majority of members complain about traffic, particularly along Windsor Rd and Old Windsor Rd, “ said Mr Owen.
“Of particular concern is how the impending construction of over 10,000 units in Bella Vista and Kellyville alone will further impact traffic across the LGA. This is compounded by the existing network of roads through Box Hill, The Gables and other surrounding areas where roads that were originally designed for rural or, at best, semi-rural loads of traffic now face an ever-increasing onslaught on residents making that trip.
“How do we as a community convince people to come to live here and to bring and grow their families if there is a considerable lack of resources for schools and rural-esk roads?”
He has already signed the petition which gained 1,000 signatures in 24 hours after the public launch.
Dr Byrne said: “We’re calling on residents and workers across North-West Sydney to sign our petition to the NSW Parliament demanding the upgrade of 45 roads including Windsor and Old Windsor Roads, and urgent funding for schools and sports fields. “
The full list is online but also includes: 14 new schools. Funding for the development of 40 new sports fields (31 have partial funding and 9 have no funding) and funding to address a “$207million infrastructure gap” in Box Hill.
The petition is at www.fairerhillsfuture.com.au. Once it reaches 20,000 signatures it will be debated in State Parliament.
State MP for Kellyville, Ray Williams has presented Council’s petition to the NSW Parliament and urged the NSW Government to act, calling the situation “dire”.
