Macarthur Square’s Service NSW pop-up shop to close at end of month

Campbelltown’s civic leaders are furious that the Service NSW Macarthur Square pop-up shop will close at the end of the month.

Campbelltown residents will have to visit the Service NSW Gregory Hills centre, with the Macarthur Square pop-up shop to be closed on May 30.

Campbelltown’s civic leaders are furious that the Service NSW Macarthur Square pop-up shop will close at the end of the month.

Campbelltown Mayor George Brticevic has described the entire situation as a total farce.

The pop-up shop was set up after community anger over the closure of RMS centres at Campbelltown, Ingleburn and Narellan, merging into a new Service Centre at Gregory Hills.

The Service NSW pop-up shop at Macarthur Square will close on May 30.

Open for less than 18 months, it was aimed at providing a more limited service in Campbelltown to save some residents the trek up Narellan Rd to the new Gregory Hills centre.

“We were paid lip service. It is a total slap in the face,” Cr Brticevic said.

“To close the RTA centres in Campbelltown and Ingleburn firstly was the entirely wrong decision.”

Campbelltown state Labor MP Greg Warren said the move is a further insult to the Campbelltown community.

“If it wasn’t so offensive, it would be laughable,” he said.

“It is another chapter which shows the government is out of step with the needs of our community.

Leumeah resident Alex Clark, 85, was appalled last year about the lack of toilet facilities at the Service NSW mega-centre at Gregory Hills.

The Macarthur Square pop-up Service NSW store opened in December 2015, serving between 100-200 service transactions a day.

Wollondilly state Liberal MP Jai Rowell, who successfully campaigned for the pop-up shop opening, said he had asked for an extension of the closing date.

“Obviously, all of the pop-up shops were designed to be temporary,” he said.

“My constituents now have a Services NSW at Bowral which is fantastic, but my understanding of the Macarthur Square pop-up store is was very widely used.

“I have written to the Minister seeking an extension on its closing date.”

Campbelltown Labor MP Greg Warren said the entire situation is offensive to Campbelltown residents.

Reader Leona Camilleri posted her shock of the decision on the Macarthur Chronicle Facebook page.

“Not only will this make life so hard for our locals, but for the poor girls who work there who go above and beyond for every single person they come into contact with,” she said.

“No one wants to travel to Gregory Hills to do what they offer here and a lot of people can’t, especially the elderly.”

A spokesman for Service NSW said the Macarthur Square store will cease trading on May 30, with staff returning to roles within the Service NSW network.

Campbelltown Mayor George Brticevic said the decision to remove the Service NSW pop-up store from Macarthur Square is a total “slap in the face’’.

“Digital stores are temporary in nature and designed to help transition customers to new Service Centres, like Gregory Hills, when they open,” he said.

“Since opening in November 2015 the Macarthur Service Centre at Gregory Hills has established itself as one of the best performing Centres on our network, recording around 18,000 customer visits per month.”

The Gregory Hills Service NSW mega centre replaced the RMS offices at Campbelltown, Ingleburn and Narellan.

It has access to more than 800 government services with 18 counters, 24 self-service kiosks, four driver-testing stations, concierge counters, and free instore Wi-Fi.