Region continues to be squeezed without reward
WESTERN Sydney continues to soak up population growth but without the prerequisite infrastructure.
Opinion
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INNER-CITY suburbs are in open revolt against density, with local and state governments beating a hasty retreat from their own population projections.
It’s a big win for locals who want to stop new homes in Ryde, Randwick, Castle Hill and Canterbury.
However, it doesn’t slow Sydney’s growth, fuelled by surging numbers of migrants, international students and backpackers.
The backlash merely slows growth in those areas where the schools, train lines, theatres, hospital beds and jobs already exist — and dumps it west of Olympic Park.
Yes, it’s likely to be Western Sydney to the rescue again to solve Sydney’s growth pains — as the Emerald City has done ever since the ex-convicts needed farmland on which to settle, since European migrants got off the ships after World War II, and since waves of refugees have been welcomed since the 1970s.
Every wave of growth that Western Sydney is asked to manage comes without the requisite infrastructure, which would ensure new residents have access to health and education facilities, employment opportunities, leisure and sporting arenas and, most importantly, transport links to access the lot.
As the Powerhouse Museum debate showed, the inner city doesn’t like sharing its goodies with the West.
Having said that, the West is ready to step up again. Between now and 2050, the Commonwealth has predicted that the region will grow from 2.3 million people to four million+.
This means the entire population of Western Australia will move into Western Sydney but without its public libraries, train lines, roads, hospitals, classrooms, stadiums — and mineral jobs.
This region will again soak up the people who are not wanted by its eastern cousins, offer them a wonderful lifestyle and great opportunity to build their families, their careers and their contribution to this nation.
We are proud of the role Western Sydney plays in nurturing the Australian dream.
However, if we are to again be the solution to Sydney’s problems we are going to need more help from state and federal governments to build more productive and inclusive communities.
The Daily Telegraph’s Go West campaign has helped focus attention on the fastest-growing region in the country, but perhaps the biggest ally Western Sydney will have in this push is the new political marginality that sits across this formerly safe Labor heartland.
The battle for Western Sydney’s voters, at both federal and state levels, has never been more fiercely contested, and the looming 2019 elections see no less than 18 seats genuinely up for grabs.
Notwithstanding the huge investment under way to cope with our historic growth, if we are to manage the population tsunami headed West over the next 30 years, we have a shopping list of major projects that need support and will make this very clear to our political leaders.
Topping the list are the south-north airport rail link foreshadowed recently in the City Deal project, to open up the land around Badgerys Creek, and the Metro West — the “steel spine” linking the City with Parramatta, and eventually on to Penrith.
The current T1 Western train line is groaning under the weight of daily commuters and cannot cope with more patronage.
Both trains have existing political commitments, but scant detail on how they will be funded and when they will be delivered.
While the timing on the first stage of the south-north line — from Badgerys Creek to St Marys — seems assured, residents in the Macarthur region, and in the northwest, are still waiting for positive news about the extensions.
We also need jobs … and lots of them.
The state government has been moving public servants to Parramatta but must ramp this up with emphasis on the Blacktown, Liverpool, Penrith and Campbelltown city centres.
Business is also stepping in, with NAB to shift 3000+ “smart jobs” to its new home under construction in Parramatta, and Brydens Lawyers boast a big new office in Liverpool.
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Governments also have a role to play in driving the growth of two sectors that are critical in ensuring Western Sydney has the skills, knowledge and capacity to support its rapidly increasing population — health and education.
This is best seen at the Westmead innovation hub, with WSU and Sydney University co-locating with the hospital and its research institutes, with light rail and metro planned to the front door.
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It is the same model being applied at Sydney Science Park at Luddenham, due to start construction this year, and in the southwest hospital precincts of Liverpool and Campbelltown, home to some of the state’s brightest minds, and world-leading technology.
In meeting the employment needs of the future we’re also going to need the right skills.
A resurgent TAFE has an important role to play here, as does the federal government, to ensure students in vocational education have the same funding opportunities as their university counterparts.
However, Western Sydney is a society as well as an economy and beyond hospital beds, research labs and affordable housing, new locals will also need theatres, footy fields, libraries, clean water and accessible national parks so we can enjoy the life the rest of Sydney takes for granted.
These are just a few of the wide range of projects this region needs to cope with the population growth that the rest of Sydney seems unwilling to host.
The list stands as a message and a warning to those politicians who come knocking on Western Sydney doors looking for votes in coming months and seeking a solution to the city’s growth pains.
Western Sydney can solve Sydney’s problems — at a price.
Christopher Brown is the chairman of the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue