A member of the residents group, Help Save Appin Inc, SUE GAY, has written an open letter to Wollondilly Council, pleading for a rethink on development for Appin. Below is an edited version of the letter:
Councillors and Mayor Mitchell
I write to you in hope you will listen to our small community.
You are the decision makers not council.
Unless you live in Appin you will never truly understand the impact development is having on our town in its current state.
We have no water pressure, constant power outages, construction rubbish stuck in fences and into our rivers.
Our children are faced with the constant danger of crossing Appin Rd because there is only one safe place to cross. We battle the trucks and the car carriers, the coal dust, constant road closures because of the accidents on Appin Road.
Council says we have no koalas in Appin yet WIRES are constantly in Appin trying to move them to safer ground. Only last week a mother and her baby were found on the Rixon Road roundabout.
Last year there were over 12 sightings in town in under a month. We asked council to fund signs to warn residents but were told RMS would not allow them yet RMS allowed many signs on the Campbelltown side of Appin Road.
We put up signs as a community to raise awareness of what was happening to our beautiful town and council tore them down, yet I pass a ‘No Airport for Wilton ‘sign every day in town which was put up by council.
We attended a community workshop that we were told was to open up communication yet our representatives were not allowed to attend, yes our councillors who represent the community’s voice.
We were shut down every time a question was asked and told to move on through the process.
Yet they called this community consultation.
The Macquariedale Road Planning proposal did not take into consideration the Appin Valley planning proposal that was submitted through the Joint Regional Planning Panel.
The reports do not reflect the impacts associated with that development. In this planning proposal Appin Valley does not exist nor any of the other homes that have been built since this planning proposal was lodged.
It does not take into consideration the impacts of the passing traffic heading into the newly built IGA or the growing football club opposite.
We have had two new businesses open in the local shopping area who have restricted trading hours imposed by council because of inadequate parking, yet more shops have been approved to be built with top shop housing above and more houses on their way.
We only have the one road through our town.
Three hundred odd lots does not sound a lot and in the scheme of things in places like Narellan and Campbelltown it’s not but it is when you are talking about Appin. That is half the size of town. If this planning proposal is pushed through our town will have more than doubled in size, for Appin that will have a huge impact.
If this planning proposal goes ahead councillors will be voting to support:
• removal of the Cumberland Plain Woodlands
• Loss of two Cumberland Plain Land Snail colonies
• Loss of koala habitat and corridor
• Loss of several threatened species
• Increasing the risk to pedestrian safety
• A loss of village atmosphere
• A loss of rural lifestyle that drew us here to the Wollondilly Shire
• Loss of community
Our future is in your hands.
Be the voice our community needs.
Sue Gay, member, Help Save Appin Inc.
Thanks so much for this story.