Wentworthville business owner and long time resident John Lynch laments change

As a businessman and long time Wentworthville resident, John Lynch has witnessed the “sad” changes in the suburb.

John Lynch’s family at their Garfield St home in the early 1970s, him in front of where his childhood home stood and one of the towers planned for Wentworthville.

As a businessman and long time Wentworthville resident, John Lynch has witnessed the “sad” changes in the suburb.

Mr Lynch has run Donna’s Flower Shop at Wentworthville Mall for the past 26 years and called the suburb home for most of his 51 years.

The youngest of eight children, he grew up in a four-bedroom fibro house at Garfield St where a block of units now looms over the streetscape.

His brother sold the family house to developers six years ago.

The street is earmarked to cop more traffic from a bypass that Cumberland Council approved in December.

Wentworthville Mall in 1962 when an electrical shop was on the left and the TAB on the right of the carpark.

“Everyone’s moving out,’’ the former Wentworthville Public and Girraween High School student said.

“Everyone that’s born and raised here is moving out and those that are left are talking about moving out.

John Lynch's family at Garfield St, Wentworthville.

“I feel sad for people that live here. We are not the only area of Sydney this is happening to and I think the state and federal election’s sealed the fete. I don’t think councils have much of a say.”

John Lynch's late mother Lillian with one of her grandchildren at Garfield St Wentworthville in the early 1970s.

John Lynch at Garfield St. Picture: Angelo Velardo

He said it was too late to rescue the once bustling shopping centre, which has seen the closure of St George Bank and anchor tenant, the IGA supermarket, over the past two years.

Since November, the baby clothes shop has shut and a homewares shop has relocated to Toongabbie. The former food court has been blocked off.

A discount shop only trades from tables outside.

JJ's House only uses the shop for storage.

Ron and June Turnbull at Wentworthville Mall.

Apart from the tobacconist, a masseuse, Miller’s women’s fashion shop and an alternations business, Mr Lynch’s shop is one of the few remaining tenants.

“We’ve lost the St George bank,’’ Mr Lynch said.

“We just have to look at the suburb and it’s just full of medical centres now.”

He feared Wentworthville’s “revitalisation” would have adverse impacts like it did when the village-style Picadilly Centre at Toongabbie was redeveloped into a mall late last decade.

It went from a bustling set of shops to a mall with a Woolworths that has struggled to attract permanent tenants.

Wentworthville’s transformation will see a forest of apartments.

“How’s it going to work here? he said.

“People are going to shop wherever they want to shop.”

Mr Lynch recently re-signed a lease for another 12 months.

“We had a really good Mother’s Day considering none of businesses is here,’’ he said.

He expressed disappointment over the council’s failure to assist the business community.

“I’ve been here over 20 years and I haven’t been approached by council or representatives once,’’ he said.

“They’ve never consulted one of the businesses. They’ve had meetings but when you’re working it’s a bit hard to attend the meetings. A lot of the meetings are held on Saturdays. It’s impossible to go to them.

“The suburb lost so many long-term businesses.”

He is also sceptical a supermarket would want to operate in the mall because a 4000sq store was not in line with Woolworths and Coles to open smaller stores.

Tea Gardens’ residents Ron and June Turnbull, who used to live at Pendle Hill until 15 years ago, were visiting their daughter at Prospect last week.

“It’s changed,’’ Mrs Turnbull said.

“There’s nothing here. We came down to go to the newsagency and it’s gone.

“They’re forcing people to go to Blacktown or Parramatta. Blacktown is terrible, you can’t park there. It’s really depressing.”