“It’s never a lost cause when you’re fighting for the identity of your local community,’’ is how the Member for Macquarie Fields responds when asked if it’s an exercise in futility trying to stop developers from getting their hands on the Scenic Hills.
“It’s never a lost cause and you continue to fight the good fight,’’ says Anoulack Chanthivong during an interview at his office in the heart of Ingleburn.
He does agree that this wonderful open space that stretches from Hurlstone Agricultural High School at Glenfield to the Campbelltown campus of the Western Sydney University is in the sights of developers.
Yes, these things [development applications] come up and every time I am going to say go away.
“We are fighting for something that’s so precious to the local area, which is identifiable as to what makes Campbelltown different, makes our community special.
“And that’s why issues like Hurlstone are so important, because that’s the domino,’’ the MP says in reference to last year’s announcement by the NSW minister for education that iconic Hurlstone would be transferred to the Hawkesbury campus of the university.
Land around the Glenfield school would be sold for housing, the minister announced to almost instant outrage in the local community.
But that’s just for starters when it comes to the Scenic Hills.
Last month Campbelltown Council rejected not one but two attempts to develop parts of the Scenic Hills for large scale housing.
But it will have to deal with an application for housing on the land around historic Macquarie Fields House, which also is located on the Scenic Hills.
And half way through the planning process is an application for a huge cemetery at Varroville, right in the heart of the Scenic Hills.
Council is opposed but there’s a good chance it will be waved through by the minister.
“There were new figures out recently showing that western Sydney is getting hotter because open space is being replaced by concrete,’’ says Mr Chanthivong.
“And that is another big reason why Scenic Hills are so important,’’ he says.
During discussion on those two failed DAs, Campbelltown Council decided to ask the State Government to enact a special planning instrument to protect the Scenic Hills.
Mr Chanthivong, who is still on the council, believes that a State Environmental Planning Policy or SEPP, as the instrument is called, is a major step towards protecting and preserving what some call the lungs of Campbelltown.
“At the last council meeting, Labor councillors moved for a SEPP which would give the Scenic Hills certainty, which would protect our open green space, and which actually lets everyone know this is what you can do and this is what you can’t do.
“It says to all those greedy developers who want to destroy the Scenic Hills, go away.
“That’s what the councillors asked for and I think that’s a good way to protect and preserve this unique environmental landscape that we have here,’’ he says.
Could it be possible to turn the Scenic Hills into South West Sydney Parklands, just like Western Sydney Parklands, which stretch from Blacktown to Fairfield?
“Yes, sure, the SEPP could be the first step to determine how the whole area of the Scenic Hills will look like,’’ says Mr Chanthivong.
“Our goal is to protect and preserve them. How we get there, well there are a number of mechanisms available.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“But the greatest level of protection is community opposition to a decision by any side of politics to actually destroy the Scenic Hills,’’ he says.[/social_quote]
Mr Chanthivong says the battle to save Hurlstone is far from over.
He says he will not tire of pointing out – inside and outside of parliament – what a bad decision this was.
“One development will lead to two, will lead to three and before we know it the Scenic Hills will be gone forever.
“They’re destroying the school, they’re selling off the farmland around it and they are also destroying the Scenic Hills.
“They’re betraying the kids of south west Sydney,’’ says Mr Chanthivong.
“I am disappointed with my Liberal Party colleagues on council, who were united with us on this issue when Labor was in office but have done an aboutface since their party won power in 2011,’’ he says.
“They’re running a Liberal Party protection racket at the expense of the local community.
“The interests of the people of Campbelltown should always come first. It’s the right thing to do.’’
Not far from Hurlstone is Macquarie Fields House, which just oozes history: the home of the first Sydney Mayor, built by James Meehan, named after Governor Lachlan Macquarie, sits atop the Scenic Hills with uninterrupted views to Sydney.
“The heritage value of Macquarie Fields House is not just in the house, it’s in the land around the homestead,’’ says Mr Chanthivong.
“If you allow housing around the homestead the history and the heritage will be gone forever.
“You only get once chance at these things and you want to get it right. You just can’t replace history and heritage once they’re gone,’’ he says.
The Member of Macquarie Fields must like the phrase “urban splatter’’ because he employs it quite frequently.
It’s not that he’s opposed to development, he just wants us to think it through before we turn a lovely open space into a concrete jungle.
“We need to stop the mistakes of putting concrete slabs over our green space,’’ Mr Chanthivong says.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“It’s not better to destroy Hurlstone, it’s not better to destroy that open space around it which is used for educational purposes and it’s certainly not better when we destroy Macquarie Fields House and the Scenic Hills.’’[/social_quote]
The Member for Macquarie Fields also has some news for the people behind the plan for a cemetery on the Scenic Hills at Varroville.
It’s not a passive use of the Scenic Hills, he declares.
“The Cemetery Trust say that we need a cemetery, but in fact we don’t. Forest Lawn cemetery [at nearby Leppington] say they have enough capacity for another 70 years.
“I don’t think that’s an appropriate development for the Scenic Hills, I wish that it could go away,’’ he says.
Mr Chanthivong says previous councils had made mistakes over the Scenic Hills, but it wouldn’t happen again.
“When we talk about preservation of our local history and heritage open space, you only get one chance, if you get it wrong it’s gone forever,’’ he says.
“In hindsight council could have done a lot better in preserving some of our open spaces.
“But we’re not going to repeat that mistake, we’re going to continue the fight against Hurlstone, and Macquarie Fields House and the cemetery and any other dodgy developments that could destroy the Scenic Hills.
“We’re just not going to sell out everything we value.
“We’re sick of the urban splatter at the expense of our valued, pristine open space.’’
