Green spaces at a premium, says independent candidate

“We’re not against development as long as it’s well planned and it has the infrastructure,’’ says Campbelltown Council independent candidate Nea Makowski.

“It’s great that in one sense we have become a regional city but it’s not so great that the green spaces are at a premium now,’’ she says, referring to the anticipated tsunami of new housing in Campbelltown, both on greenfield sites and along railway stations from Glenfield to Macarthur.

Women for Campbelltown Council, which is headed by Nea Makowski and includes Rene Madeddu and Susanne Jones, will compete for votes with a number of other pro-environment groups and candidates at the September 10 election.

Long serving councillor Sue Dobson is running again, as are the Greens, with Ben Moroney at the top of their ticket.

But as far as Nea Makowski is concerned Campbelltown Council can do with a few more independents if it wants to successfully manage the tide of development that’s on the way.

“I don’t think there’s enough independents on council, and that’s why I am running as an independent,’’ Ms Makowski says.

“The political party councillors tend to stick to the party line.

“It’s like they’ve already decided what they’re going to vote before the council meeting and there’s no flexibility.’’

Ready to serve on council

Born and bred here, Nea Makowski says her main motivation for putting her hand up for election is to “do my bit for Campbelltown, having grown up here and loved it.

“I found myself in recent years attending lots of planning and environment committee meetings on council because of the Scenic Hills, the bushland out at Wedderburn, coal seam gas and all of that,’’ says the Scenic Hills Association supporter.

“The more meetings I went to the more I realised the meeting minutes did not give a good outline of what was going on.

“So I thought, I’ll go to every meeting.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“And it’s been really interesting to watch, to see how it all works and to realise as a community member there’s only so much we can do.’’[/social_quote]

Ms Makowski believes that despite what some others think, the Scenic Hills need defending more than ever.

“It concerns me not all councillors are united on that,’’ she says.

“The Scenic Hills zoning has been in place since the 1970s and I’ve gone through an awful lot of records of meetings of the council in the 70, 80 and 90s and they were all fully united back then.

“But it has weakened a little bit in recent years.’’

Size of the Gilead development is of concern

Much of the new housing will be built within the historic property south of Campbelltown known as Gilead, which is off Appin Road.

And Ms Makowski is concerned that the powers to be won’t get the balance right.

“You’ve got to balance between what the state government wants and what’s best for our community.

“But Gilead is such a beautiful, historic area, and the amount of development proposed for it is crazy,’’ she says.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Appin Road is a disaster zone and any more traffic coming on to that is just going to add to the woes.[/social_quote]

“But not only that, there’s koalas there, with the koala corridor starting around there.

“The number of koalas who get hit on Appin Road is quite a lot.

“Balance is what we should be seeking in this issue.

“We just don’t like the idea of it all changing and disappearing overnight.’’

Nea Makowski says she is standing for council “to be a voice, consistently, who does the work, who cares.

“I will put in too much time, I can guarantee that – for me it’s all or nothing.

“I do want to make a difference because I do care and I am just sick of being frustrated at council decisions.

“Like chopping down the trees in Queen Street; they may say up in council it’s no big deal but for people who walk up and down this street it is a big deal.’’

Another big deal for Nea and her Women for Campbelltown Council is how we treat domestic animals such as cats and dogs.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“The way we treat our animals says a lot about us,’’ she says.[/social_quote]

Ms Makowski supports the stand of Cr Ted Rowell, who has pushed hard for better facilities at Campbelltown’s Animal Care Facility in Rose Street.

She says Cr Rowell was just asking for the implementation of recommendations made in the report into how animal care facilities should be run.

But other councillors have blocked such calls on the basis that it would be too costly.

“Some councillors are concerned about the value of the land that the facility is on but if it was moved it would still have to be somewhere central.

“I would try to retain it in Rose Street,’’ Ms Makowski says.

If her group are successful on September 10 it would be the first time a candidate listed below the line on the ballot paper got elected to Campbelltown Council.

Ms Makowski is just hoping voters will want to support as many independent candidates as possible on polling day.

“I am pleased to be running for a position on our local council with two other strong and independent women,’’ she says.

“It is my desire to serve the people and the environment of Campbelltown now and in the future with honesty, integrity and respect.’’