The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC), have rejected claims that dispersing jobs from the Sydney CBD would be counterproductive and add to traffic congestion.
WSROC president Tony Hadchiti has hit back at the claims that decentralisation of jobs from the Sydney CBD to western suburbs regional hubs like Campbelltown and Liverpool would see workers having to drive across Sydney to and from work.
An international planning expert, Professor Peter Rees, made the claim that relocating jobs out of the Sydney CBD would be counter productive and cause congestion as more people were forced to use their cars to get to and from work.
Cr Hadchiti, who is also the deputy mayor of Liverpool Council, said the claim demonstrated ignorance of the way Sydney functions.
“Centralisation of jobs is today’s reality and it is clearly not working,” Hadchiti said.
“More than 300,000 Western Sydney workers leave the region each day because there simply aren’t enough jobs in the west.
“Around a third of these are travelling directly to the Sydney CBD.
“Congestion exists specifically because residents living in the suburbs need to travel to jobs in the Sydney CBD, in the same direction, on the same roads, and the same rail lines,” he said.
“Sydney’s population is currently split equally between east and west.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“If we put all our jobs on one side of the city we will inevitably see a huge daily migration,” Cr Hadchiti said.[/social_quote]
He also slammed the suggestion by Prof Rees that Parramatta was not a CBD, but a dead area as “ridiculous’’.
“Parramatta is one of Australia’s fastest growing cities, with a population that already equals the Sydney CBD, and is three times larger than Melbourne CBD. The only factor missing in the equation is increased employment opportunities for local residents,” Cr Hadchiti said.
“The NSW Government’s current focus on job creation close to where people live is the key to reducing congestion, ensuring more people can spend more time with their families,” he said.
