Penrith Lakes: What the future of the wetlands will include
The future of a massive and controversial precinct in western Sydney has been revealed. See what Penrith Lakes could look like.
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While campaigners are convinced the massive flood-prone Penrith Lakes District would one day become home to tens of thousands of new residents, Western Sydney Minister Stuart Ayres has ruled it out.
The Liberal MP, who has been the target of a series of campaigns over his stance on the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall, told the Penrith Press Penrith Lakes is not suitable for large scale residential development.
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“I would not support large scale residential urban development and anyone who suggests otherwise is perpetuating a politically motivated lie,” he said.
Mr Ayres said he was calling on Penrith Lakes Development Corporation, the owners of the land, to propose the creation of tourism, commercial, community or parklands across the precinct.
“Penrith Lakes Development Corporation and the State Government have been engaged together for many years as the site moves from an active quarry to a Parkland and non-residential development site.”
Penrith Lakes chief executive, Jacqueline Vozzo, told the Press the corporation was creating a master plan to “ensure the Lakes Scheme was delivered back to the Western Sydney community as soon as possible”.
“We are working to create a master plan that will have input from the NSW Government and other stakeholders to ensure the Lakes is developed in the best possible way for the local community’s needs,” Ms Vozzo said.
“We hope to have this completed very soon and then to share with the wider community.
“The Lakes has been a long time coming and is a unique and wonderful natural asset for greater western Sydney — we look forward to the community being able to use and enjoy it for years to come.”
But Give a Dam campaign president, Harry Burkitt, said Mr Ayres had a “history” of spruiking residential development at Penrith Lakes.
“The question is, why did Stuart Ayres mislead the people of Penrith in 2014 when he said — next to a floodgate at Penrith Lakes — there would be houses ‘as far as the eye can see’,” Mr Burkitt said.
“We welcome Mr Ayres taking a new approach on the future of Penrith Lakes,” Mr Burkitt said. “But he needs to apologise and retract statements he has made previously because he has taken a totally contradictory position on this.”
A 2017 report by the NSW Government, advocating for the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall, forecasts a total of 268,000 people are expected to live in floodplain areas across western Sydney in the next three decades.
“Up to 134,000 people live and work on the floodplain and could require evacuation,” the report reads. “This number is forecast to double over the next 30 years.
“Over 25,000 residential properties and two million square metres of commercial space are currently subject to flood risk, and this will increase significantly in the coming years.”