The Member for Macquarie Fields, Anoulack Chanthivong, has condemned the state government for delays and secrecy surrounding yet to be released plans that could unleash a tidal wave of extra houses and flats in Glenfield.
Fair go: Anoulack Chanthivong with Shadow Minister for Planning Tania Mihailuk (right), Labor candidate for Holsworthy Charishma Kaliyanda and Gryffyn Williams-Brooks outside Hurlstone.
He says the Liberal Government has earmarked at least 7,000 new dwellings in Glenfield and will sell vital green open space at Hurlstone Agricultural High School in a greedy land grab set to boost developers’ coffers.
The local MP is calling on the government to release the plans well before the state election on March 23, so local residents can be informed and have a say on the future of their suburb.
The government is also yet to make public the proposed height of the high rises at Glenfield.
Mr Chanthivong said the long overdue plan was due to be released for public exhibition in early 2018.
“Now, 2019 has already rolled around and local residents are still being kept in the dark on the Liberal Government’s plans for Glenfield, which are set to dramatically change the suburb forever,’’ he says.
“The Liberal Government is set to unleash high rise monstrosities in the area despite the community’s angst about overdevelopment.
“My Stop the Squeeze survey highlighted that people in my electorate are opposed to overdevelopment and the loss of green open space.
“People don’t want more congestion or overcrowding and they are concerned about the loss of suburban character and the impact of overdevelopment on their quality of life.
“At the same time, infrastructure is struggling to cope.”
The state government announced in late 2015 it would sell off the Hurlstone Farm and move Hurlstone Agricultural High School to the Hawkesbury – it was a decision that Mr Chanthivong has fought ever since.
“The Liberal Government’s plans for Hurlstone were never about the best educational outcomes for our community or south west Sydney,’’ he says.
“It was always part of a greedy land grab and part of a plan to dump more overdevelopment on our doorstep with no new infrastructure.
“The Hurlstone Farm must be protected from overdevelopment that is already rampant in my electorate.
“The commuter carpark at Glenfield is already bursting at the seams, our roads and trains are congested and our vital green open space is being replaced with more tar and concrete.
“With just over two months until the state election, the government must come clean on its plans for Glenfield and release the Precinct Plan.
“Local residents have a right to know the plans for Glenfield, before they turn up at the ballot box on 23 March. They deserve a fair go.”
