The Macarthur region is poised to become bigger than Adelaide so Councillor Paul Lake would like to know why the State Government isn’t showing much interest.
“They just won’t go past Liverpool,’’ he says of their attitude to growth areas in the metropolitan area.
“Then they promote a place like Parramatta.
“I mean, why would you? Parramatta is so hard to get to compared to us here in Macarthur, yet the State Government’s got blinkers on.’’
According to Cr Lake – and many experts – people in west and south west Sydney are sick of travelling to access jobs and other opportunities.
Macarthur offers the chance to create a region that offers large number of its residents jobs that are not more than a half hour drive away.
But Cr Lake believes unless Campbelltown Council shows leadership on the issue progress will be both slow and negligible.
Fortunately, he says, the current council, elected in September for a four year term, has so far shown signs that it wants to work together for the betterment of Campbelltown and Macarthur.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“This council looks to me like a forward looking one, one keen to get things done over the next four years,’’ says Cr Lake.[/social_quote]
“And there’s a sense of urgency, because for too long nothing major happened here.
“And believe me there’s plenty the council can get stuck into.
“But we can’t wait for someone else to come along and get things done for us.
“We have got to get in and do things ourselves.’’
Cr Lake, who was first elected in 2004, wants a new civic centre built within the proposed business park on Farrow Road, on the western side of the railway line.
“We should be leading by example if we want this business park to be successful,’’ he says.
The current council site in a prime spot in Queen Street should either be leased or developed to finance the move.
“But we have got to get a move on the business park to provide local jobs as soon as we can.
“It’s time we stopped talking and started doing things,’’ Cr Lake said.
“You know, we’ve got all the factors you need to turn this into a region that offers plenty of local jobs.
“We have it all here, the roads, the rail corridor, the land, the people, the university.’’
And he wants council to send staff overseas to promote the area to potential businesses.
“Some people are talking about Badgerys Creek, but that won’t happen for years yet.
“We need to seize the opportunities that present themselves right now,’’ he said.
Cr Lake said he would keep pushing hard to expedite these issues, especially the business park, which is still in the report stage.
He is also a major proponent of the Sports Centre of Excellence on the university campus, which won funding from Canberra during the recent federal election.
“I’ll have something for you on that one very soon,’’ was Cr Lake’s rather cryptic response to our enquiry about progress on the centre of excellence.
mixed purpose development or integrated design is the way of the future.