There was a good reason for the smile on the face of the member for Macquarie Fields at this morning’s final concrete pour at Edmondson Park north commuter carpark.
Anoulack Chanthivong is now a minister in the Minns Labor Government, but nothing was going to keep him from this gig.
For years he has been a voice for local commuters who had to park kilometres away from the Edmondson Park rail station.
As well as the long trek to the station, plenty of them got fined when they parked illegally because they just had to get the train to work.
For others, especially women, it meant walking to their car after dark because of the poor lighting of surrounding streets.
The former government eventually realised that it had to do something, so it gave the nod to the 2,000 space commuter carpark on the south side.
But with such a rapidly growing area around the station it didn’t take long for the parking problems to continue bubbling away.
Caving in to the pressure from the community campaign, the Liberal Government finally gave the nod to the 900 space Edmondson Park north commuter carpark.
This morning, a big smile was the closest Mr Chanthivong came to claiming victory on this massive local issue.
“This is the result of a long campaign to ensure our local community got its fair share,’’ Mr Chanthivong told the South West Voice in Macarthur, the sole media representative.
“The campaign had the support of the community, it was a joint effort.
“I’ve been in the local area since 1988 and this was once farmland, now it’s full of families and housing and communities.
“These are people who work hard, pay their taxes, and in this case just want to get to and from work as quickly as possible and in the most pleasant way.
“We need to ensure these growing communities get the resources they deserve and make sure their taxes are spent on the things that matter to them,’’ he said.
“We want to improve that experience, we want to make it more efficient and more pleasant for those who take public transport, and we want to encourage others to use public transport.
“Also, getting to and from work for those who commute on our public transport network is a good thing.
“The more people that take public transport the better it is for everybody, for congestion, and there’s also time to read and do other things while you’re going to and from work,’’ Mr Chanthivong said.
While the new commuter carpark will have six floors of parking, it has been designed so more levels can be added on as the need arises in the future.
All things being equal, commuters could be using the new carpark in November, less than six months away.
PS. For the record, Anoulack Chanthivong is a NSW Minister for the following five portfolios: Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Industry and Trade, Innovation, Science and Technology, Building, Corrections
