Mark September 10 as judgement day

On Saturday, September 10, people who call Campbelltown, Camden and Wollondilly home will get to elect new councils for the next four years.

As always the election will partly be a judgement on the councillors of the past four years.

That’s democracy as voters look to reward or punish the incumbent councillors who are putting themselves up for re-election.

In Camden, for example, voters will likely pass judgement on the unprecedented scale of housing development that in just four years has transformed it from a rural landscape to rows and rows of suburbia.

Council says it had no option but to give the nod to more and more housing releases, but the community was concerned it did not have much of a say.

It will have its say on September 10.

Up in Campbelltown, voters will be able to deliver a verdict on what they think of their council’s decision two years ago to spike rates by almost 12 per cent.

The councillors who supported the rate hike argued that without the extra revenue much of council’s ageing infrastructure – from park play equipment to change rooms at playing fields – would have gone from bad to worse.

And it is true that council has used the money to do what it said it would.

The voters, of course, are entitled to say, well, yes, but you did not have a mandate to hit us with such a big increase.

But as important as that is for the three council areas that make up what is collectively called Macarthur, there is another very important aspect to this election.

And that is the tsunami of growth that’s heading our way over the next 20 years.

Forget what’s happened before, including Camden in the past four years.

That’s child’s play compared to the housing growth storm on the way.

That is why when we go to that polling booth on September 10 we will need to have one eye on the future.

And more specifically, what sort of area do we want to live in.

I have been covering local politics for almost 40 years and I have never seen an election where the major issue was so clear cut.

The debate will not be a choice about development or no development.

That has already been decided by others for us.

The people have the power though to elect people who will include them in decisions down the track, such as how much space should be included in new estates and so on.

So, fellow Macarthur residents, check out your candidates very carefully over the next three weeks or so.

Just remember: the councillors we elect on September 10 will pretty much determine the shape of the place we call home for the next 50 years.