Campbelltown, I think you’re going to love your new council general manager.
Lindy Deitz is a smart, strong, straight talking, modern woman.
She also knows Campbelltown like the back of her hand: where it’s at, where it’s heading and where it should actually go.
But here’s the icing on the cake: Lindy Deitz also loves Campbelltown and is not afraid to say so.
How do I know this: Well, I actually asked Ms Deitz during an interview earlier today with her and the mayor, Paul Lake.
Do you love Campbelltown?
She did not hesitate for a second.
“I do love Campbelltown,’’ was the immediate reply of the first woman ever appointed general manager of Campbelltown Council.
“Why? I will tell you why.
“We were at an Ingleburn opening of one of our reserves today and the community will walk up to you and just openly start telling you what they love and what they need about the place.
“Then I had to pop down to Macarthur Square and I was with a couple of my colleagues and people would walk up and start talking to you, perfect strangers.
[quote]“I think Campbelltown has a real spirit of community about it; the people are friendly and genuinely love the city.[/quote]
“I have worked here for 25 years and have lived in a variety of suburbs throughout the city and I just think we have got the best of everything,’’ Ms Deitz told the South West Voice.
“And we are in such a perfect location, close to things, with our beautiful environmental assets -there’s not that many cities that can boast that – we have so much open space and active playing fields.
“People don’t realise that about Campbelltown.
“We’re a physically active city, we love our sport, and we love our culture.
“And we have got to stop being quiet about it – we’ve got to start telling everybody about it, that’s what I think.’’
In a recent story the Federal Member for Macarthur and five time mayor Russell Matheson had a gentle dig at Campbelltown Council for not being proactive enough in chasing investment and jobs.
Mr Matheson said council owned land banks on the western side of the railway line which should now be used to revitalise the city.
So I asked both Ms Deitz and Mayor Lake what their response was to Mr Matheson’s argument.
“That’s exactly where we need to head and that’s where we’re heading, we absolutely need to lift up and revitalise, but we want to do it strategically,’’ was the response from the new general manager.
“Council does have a lot of strategic land holdings, but they serve a great purpose for us to lead the way in terms of the quality of development we want and I guess we want quality public spaces as well.
[quote]“We want the public domain to keep the beauty of Campbelltown, because that’s what makes us the point of difference with other places.[/quote]
“We are on the cusp of enormous growth, and as a council we need to unite and strategically tackle the growth in a way we can lead it rather than it lead us.
“We need to get out there, hit the ground running, no more flying under the radar,’’ Ms Deitz said.
The mayor was to the point, saying: “Watch this space.
“Russell is right, we do have a lot of land that was put aside particularly on the other side of the rail line 10 years ago.
“The Labor Party moved that it be put aside for the future.
“The future is here,’’ Cr Lake said.
“Councillors here are prepared to move forward and you just watch – if you thought north west business park was big, what’s coming here is bigger. Well over 60 hectares of land for a massive business park that will be done in stages,’’ the mayor said.
“We need our high level strategic vision happening right now,’’ chimes in the new GM.
“We’ve got to move quickly with the opportunities that come with regional city status, where we are more likely to attract infrastructure funding,’’ Ms Deitz said.
The mayor says he has a few weeks before he leaves the office and plans to ensure he sends out a strong message to the big end of town about what Campbelltown has to offer.
“There will be two big functions coming up where we will let everyone know we mean business,’’ says the mayor.
[quote]“With Lindy on board, there’s a sense of confidence, of excitement around the place.’’[/quote]
But let’s give the final word to our brand new council GM, Lindy Deitz:
“I am very excited with the opportunities Campbelltown has ahead of it and for me to be part of that journey I think that’s wonderful.’’
