West or south? Bankstown cuts ties with western Sydney peak body

It was May 2005 and Paul Keating was halfway through a keynote speech at what was then Bankstown Town Hall when he said it: “These days, of course, Bankstown is relatively inner city”.

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating is among the most famous Bankstown exports.

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IT WAS May 2005 and Paul Keating was halfway through a keynote speech at what was then Bankstown Town Hall when he said it: “These days, of course, Bankstown is relatively inner city”.

It is unlikely the former prime minister would have known how true his throwaway line would become 11 years later — at least in the eyes of those now responsible for the city’s direction.

Last week, at Canterbury-Bankstown Council’s final meeting for the year, administrator Richard Colley effectively signed divorce papers with western Sydney, approving the termination of the council’s membership with the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils.

“The big issues facing WSROC, particularly at the moment, are the development of the Badgerys Creek Airport, the North-South railway link from Hawkesbury to Campbelltown, flood mitigation at Hawkesbury River and the railway lines linking the greenfield developments in greater western Sydney,” Mr Colley said.

“A lot of those don’t really apply to us.”

Canterbury-Bankstown Council’s head office. The new city wants to focus on the south, not west. Picture: Antony Field

He also pointed to the Greater Sydney Commission’s decision to include all of Canterbury-Bankstown in a “south district” together with Sutherland and Georges River local government areas.

However, the commission had initially included Bankstown in the central west district along with Parramatta.

Former Bankstown mayor Helen Westwood, who was chairwoman of WSROC from 2004-05, said calling the entire Bankstown area southern Sydney was “nonsense”.

Ms Westwood said it was “clear” the boundary change was a consequence of the forced council merger of Bankstown and Canterbury in May.

“This is a consequence of having such a large local government area — there are areas of Bankstown that would be considered inner city but then there are others that are clearly not,” she said.

Former Bankstown mayor Helen Westwood predicted the decision would likely be revisited after new councillors were elected in Canterbury-Bankstown in September 2017.

“When you are looking at places like Villawood, Chester Hill and Birrong they are not inner city and residents don’t feel like they are inner city.”

Ms Westwood said not having a seat at the western Sydney table would be a “missed opportunity” and predicted the decision would likely be revisited after new councillors were elected in Canterbury-Bankstown in September 2017.

Current WSROC president and Blacktown mayor Stephen Bali agrees.

“The new City of Canterbury-Bankstown aligns geographically with the southeastern parts of Sydney, but there is no doubt that the issues concerning residents in the western part of the LGA align strongly with those affecting western Sydney more generally,” Cr Bali said.

Regardless of how Bankstown is defined, it is certain Mr Keating will always remember the place as a child growing up in the 1950s — a place where while inner Sydney was booming with new development, most of the roads in his home town did not even have kerbs.