Future Campbelltown: Mayor George Greiss calls for better transport connections to Sydney

The concept of a “30-minute city” is a buzz word thrown around by politicians, but one Campbelltown leader says it’s not a reality for most of the residents in his region.

Campbelltown Mayor George Greiss.

It may be one of NSW’s fastest growing regions but the city of Campbelltown, home to 180,000 people and located about 55km from Sydney’s CBD, has been described as “isolated” with calls for an improved connectivity to public transport.

Despite aspirations of a “30 minute city” often thrown around, Campbelltown mayor George Greiss said more than 60 per cent of residents work out of area and would struggle to access public transport inside half an hour, let alone their place of work.

“[We need] connection to the new Western Sydney Airport, a new Metro link or a new heavy rail link, and it needs to be continuous to connect Glenfield to the new airport and from the new airport back to Campbelltown,” Dr Greiss said.

“That will complete that circle that will give our residents access to all of these new facilities that everybody’s claiming will be happening in the next four years. We also need an east-to-west connection to ensure that our traffic flows in several directions.”

Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The future of the region’s transport and connectivity to the rest of Sydney will be explored by experts in a deep-dive into a report released this Friday by Committee for Sydney and SGS Economics and Planning.

Dr Greiss said as urban centres outside Sydney’s CBD expanded the seven heavy rail stops in the Campbelltown area needed to be increased, and there needed to be more connections from Campbelltown to other major hubs.

A Campbelltown City Centre Community Travel Survey in 2022 found 42 per cent of respondents were interested in public transport. However, 33 per cent said it takes too long.

Committee for Sydney CEO Eamon Waterford echoed called for Campbelltown residents to be better connected to public transport.

“We need improved bus networks, investment in metro and rail and connections from Campbelltown to the airport and other parts of Sydney,” he said.

“We also need Campbelltown connected better within itself, so better bus networks.”

Former Campbelltown resident Hannah Majcic knows the pain of a long commute after landing a job in Parramatta only to realise the direct train between there, and Campbelltown had been cut.

“Having to change at Glenfield was inconvenient because it only took a two-minute delay for your whole commute to be thrown out,” Ms Majcic said.

Soon she took to driving, but the commute became too much, and Ms Majcic looked for a new job.

She said despite Campbelltown being such a rapidly growing area, it felt “isolated” unless you were happy to drive everywhere.