Premier Gladys Berejiklian blames Labor for development pressure points in western Sydney
In a wide-ranging interview, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has attacked Labor for creating many of the growing pains across Sydney, and reveals in a video more about her personal life.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has blamed many of the growing pains in western Sydney on previous Labor governments as congestion hits hard in rapidly-growing suburbs.
In a wide-ranging interview yesterday with the Advertiser, Ms Berejiklian labelled the Michael Daley-led Labor Party as the “biggest hypocrites I’ve ever seen in my life” after attacking her government on the population explosion and setting high housing targets in the west.
“A lot of the developments in this community we inherited (from Labor). They had already been approved,” she said, flanked by Liberal candidate for Granville Tony Issa at the Merrylands RSL.
“We’ve made sure we’ve invested in the schools, roads and rail — and they never did. As a result, the quality of life is improving for people … and I want to do more on this.
“We have also turned around the state’s budget so we can invest in the important social infrastructure that matters.”
Her comments came as long-time residents in Telopea threatened to pack up and leave Sydney amid the government’s plans for up to 10,000 additional residents in their suburb and 21,650 new dwellings in Parramatta by 2021.
However, the Premier said her government had “actually slowed down a lot of development and we’ve made sure we’re keeping a focus on public spaces and public land”.
“We’ve invested more than $100 million in public spaces and also set up a fund to buy land that we see appropriate to turn into public space,” the former Transport Minister in the O’Farrell and Baird governments said.
“I regret the Labor Party left the state in decay and sent it backwards … and they are hypocrites, because a lot of the development you see now was approved by them.
“Under Labor, the politicians made the key decisions (on planning targets). Now the experts, the Greater Sydney Commission, give us the feedback and set the targets.”
Opposition Planning spokeswoman Tania Mihailuk said the Premier’s planning attack on Labor was “absurd” and “misplaced”.
“Has she forgotten the developer-led spot rezoning change by the Coalition Government in 2012?” Ms Mihailuk said.
“This was the turning point for when the development industry went into overdrive across Greater Sydney.
“The reason we are feeling the development burn now is because it took the industry a few years to pick up on this after it came into legislation in 2013.
“Councils have since been bypassed in planning approvals and developers have well and truly taken advantage of this. The system has been tipped in their favour, at the expense of residents.”
Sue and Mark Dodds have lived in Telopea for 35 years, raising two children and racking up many “wonderful family memories”.
However, they are now seeing their suburb suffering under the weight of more development and congested roads — and that’s well before the government puts in place the Telopea masterplan, which includes 4500 new homes and rezoning to allow for building heights of up to 70m.
“It’s a horrible thing, but we’re now considering moving out,” Mr Dodds said. “We moved here six months after we got married and just fell in love with the place.
“But it’s going to be an absolute nightmare with thousands of extra people here. It won’t be a functioning suburb and we’ll lose a lot of the beautiful, leafy character.”
TRANSPORT COMMITMENTS
Ms Berejiklian said, if re-elected, the Coalition would “make sure” the Metro West project came to fruition and predicted the Parramatta Light Rail works would run “much smoother” than in the city, where delays, cost blowouts and business disruptions have dogged the infrastructure upgrade.
“You can’t compare the two (light rail projects). George Street in Sydney is nothing like Church Street, Parramatta. The challenges don’t exist,” the Premier said. “Consultations are going on and we’ll try to keep business disruptions to a minimum (in Parramatta).”
On her biggest goal, if the Coalition is returned for a third straight term of government, she said: “The standard for me is taking pressure off families.
“How do you do that? You reduce congestion on the roads, you provide better schools and hospitals.”
The Willoughby MP’s commitments came as bookmakers reported that punters are predicting a change of government on March 23.
TAB spokesman Gerard Daffy said there had been a dramatic swing in the election market, where the Coalition opened as a $1.40 favourite and the ALP at $2.80 on November 12 last year.
Since then, Labor has firmed into a $1.55 favourite after a bet of $2000 was placed on it to win at $1.65 last Friday, while the Gladys Berejiklian-led Coalition have drifted out to $2.35.
Mr Daffy said the move for the ALP came just before Christmas, with 66 per cent of the money now invested on a Labor triumph.
However, Ms Berejiklian remains steadfast in her belief that the Coalition will be rewarded at the polls for “fixing Labor’s mess”.
“What I’m extremely proud of is that we are delivering the infrastructure that the community needs,” she said. “You cannot grow unless you’ve got the new schools and hospitals to make that infrastructure grow.
“Until we came to government, not enough was happening in building roads, rail networks, schools and hospitals. And we’ve changed that.”
POOL STALEMATE
A big development issue drowning the Berejiklian Government in controversy at Parramatta has been the demolition of the council-owned Memorial Pool, which was pulled down to make way for the $360 million Bankwest Stadium.
Talks between the government and Parramatta Council broke down last year after a row over who would pay for a replacement aquatic facility.
The government is committed to building a “like-for-like” pool. However, the council — which is refusing to tip in a cent — insists that type of facility would cost more than twice the $30 million the government is willing to pay for it.
But Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday insisted the new stadium was a priority for the community.
“I listened to the community and I know what the community needs and wants, and that new stadium at Parramatta is going to breathe new life into western Sydney,” she told the Advertiser.
“I dare the Leader of the Opposition and any member of the Labor Party to go out the front of the new stadium and say we don’t need or want it.
“Why should western Sydney not have the services and infrastructure they deserve and need? It’ll be a fantastic stadium.
“We’re investing billions of dollars in Parramatta. And we’re going to provide a like-for-like, so the (new) pool would cost $30 million. And if council wants a bigger version, that’s a matter for them.”
Parramatta Lord Mayor Andrew Wilson said his position on the matter was “continuing discussions with the government to get a new pool”.
“But I lost that (push) with my council colleagues. What needs to happen now is for the council and government to start talking again,” Cr Wilson said.
Other councillors told the Advertiser yesterday that what’s really needed is for the government to fully stump up for a “signature” pool that represents the heritage of the site, at a cost in the order of $75 million.
“The government decided to demolish the pool to build a stadium there, so it has the responsibility to replace the pool in the right manner. It’s pretty simple really,” Labor councillor Donna Davis said.
And Deputy Mayor Michelle Garrard, who will run as an independent candidate at the state election, added: “This is a really poor response from the Premier.
“They took the pool away from the community to fund a state project and their due diligence should be replacing it like-for-like, as they said they’d do. And all indications show it can’t be done for $30 million.
“The community deserves better from the government, where funding priorities are out of whack.”
And while the political stalemate drags on, the community will be left without a pool to cool down on hot days and a facility for children to play and learn how to swim.
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