Project Sydney: What do you want from Go West?
THE Daily Telegraph has a dogged determination to make sure Sydney is — and continues to be — a world class city. What are your bright ideas on how this can happen?
Project Sydney
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THE Daily Telegraph’s dogged determination to make sure Sydney remains the top city in the world has paid off — with big wins for the West and Greater Sydney over the past five years.
Since we first called for a “fair go for the West”, Project Sydney has given voice to communities often forgotten in the big debates about the future of our great city.
State and federal governments have been responding to our Action Plan to improve equality across Sydney on hospitals, roads, education, rail and cultural facilities.
What has been achieved so far
We pushed to secure a second airport at Badgerys Creek, move the Powerhouse to Parramatta, and invest in programs that would safeguard jobs for our youth and invest in big, city building projects. And the decision makers listened.
The state government made a firm commitment to spend $1.5 billion building and revamping our ageing stadiums to ensure Sydney stays the nation’s number one destination for international sport, arts and cultural events.
This year, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the deadline for moving the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta and opening its doors by 2023 — despite noisy protests from the inner-city and the ALP.
A significant upgrade for Riverside Theatre is also on the cards.
But we will continue to push for more cultural and sporting gains for the region, including an upgrade to the Campbelltown Arts Centre and an outdoor venue at Parramatta Park.
For the government to deliver on its promise to extend the popular Vivid light festival to Parramatta, for an upgrade to Campbelltown stadium. Many projects are half done. Project Sydney is not complete and The Daily Telegraph is pressing hard with our 2018 Action Plan.
The landmark Western Sydney City Deal deal, signed between the Turnbull and Berejiklian governments and eight Western Sydney councils, has given wings to the Western Sydney Airport project. $100 million has been put aside for the detailed business case.
But we want to see shovels on the ground within the next three years — not enough money has been committed to get the ball rolling. A $5 billion pledge has put the North South Rail Link we demanded and a world-class Aerotropolis on track.
But there is no plan to investigate the business case to take the rail all the way down to Campbelltown and crucially — no rapid rail system yet funded between Parramatta and the airport.
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Rouse Hill residents have a $300 million commitment to build a hospital but no time frame. A big upgrade at Campbelltown Hospital has been unveiled but more needs to be done to improve nurse to patient ratios and upgrade Canterbury and Fairfield Hospitals.
On the jobs front, progress has been made cutting the western Sydney youth jobs rate — now the lowest in 20 years, coming in at 9.9 per cent on average. But this is still vastly higher than the national average.
Blue Mountain train services are more frequent now, with revamped timetables, and a firm timeline has been given for the light rail link from Parramatta to Olympic Park to start in 2023. But commuters are still pulling their hair out over lack of parking at train stations — especially in the rapidly growing north west.
Significant progress has been achieved with our roads — Prospect Highway is being upgraded for almost $10 million and planning has started for the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beach project — but the government has piked out of a firm completion date of 2023.
Similarly with the F6 Motorway south of Sydney.
It’s a case of some progress — $50 million now allocated for planning the tunnel between Arncliffe and Kogarah — but they’ve skipped the next section that takes it down to the Sutherland Shire and beyond — which will cause havoc for the local St George suburbs if not completed at the same time.
Nor is there a firm timeline on the much needed M9 Orbital motorway.
The growing cost of tolls has been softened with the introduction of a new scheme enabling people who spend more than $25 a week to get reductions on their car rego — but the main burden still unfairly falls on our north west.
And housing affordability remains a major social problem, including a lack of cheaper places for essential workers.
The action plan
JOBS
■ Mid-career retraining for workers with jobs at risk of automation. Government should join forces with Employers, Unis + TAFE to deliver.
■ Turn big road and rail projects into training and research hubs.
■ Move Government Transport and Infrastructure jobs to Western Sydney.
■ Prepare school leavers and new graduates to enter the modern workforce with work experience and mentorships.
■ Fund English classes and services for the region’s migrants to help them find jobs
LEARNING
■ Build more schools to deal with overcrowding in our fastest growing suburbs.
■ Invest in a massive school tech upgrade to update Wi-Fi, computers and devices.
■ Reinstate funding on new university enrolments to teach 200,000 new ‘knowledge’ jobs
■ Install air conditioning in all new schools
COMMUTING
■ Set timing and funds for critical Metro West and commit to future links Blacktown, Penrith, Liverpool.
■ Build and fund North South Rail link all the way to Campbelltown.
■ Extend Light Rail from Carlingford to Epping and support businesses along Church St during construction.
■ Parking at Campbelltown and Leppington train stations and for all new suburbs
■ Cut the cost of Tolls for drivers from the Hills.
BIG PROJECTS
■ Build phase one of Western Sydney Airport within four years and create incentives for international investors
■ Make open pacts with developers to build facilities for new communities
■ Build public transport links to jobs at Parramatta and the City for all proposed new developments in the greater West
■ Funds and set a timetable for critical Western Harbour crossing, Spit Tunnel, F6 Motorway.
■ Start building Spring Farm Parkway and Appin Rd Improvements immediately.
■ Clean up Western Sydney’s rivers — Georges, Parramatta and Hawkesbury/Nepean
HEALTH
■ Fund more doctors, hospital staff and tech research at Westmead.
■ Update the decades old ‘preventative health strategy’ — starting with properly transferring all Sydneysiders to E-health.
■ Redevelop Liverpool Hospital into a health and research precinct servicing southwest Sydney.
■ Build Rouse Hill hospital.
■ Fund a specialist paediatrician at Campbelltown Hospital.
PLANNING
■ Involve the community and all three levels of government in planning decisions — especially high-density developments.
■ Develop a strategy to drastically reduce Western Sydney homelessness which has
risen 37% in five years.
■ Give more housing support for students to rent quality housing.
LAW & ORDER
■ Crack down on break-ins and car theft in Western Sydney.
■ Put on 500 more police in high population growth areas after the spike in crime.
■ Fund critical courtroom overhauls in Camden and Parramatta.
■ Strong and targeted campaigns to deter young people from dangerous drugs like ice
and cocaine.
LIFESTYLE
■ Match grassroots grants and support for local sports.
■ Bring the Commonwealth Games to Western Sydney.
■ Upgrade Campbelltown sports stadium.
■ Flexible childcare outside ordinary business hours. Integrate care with university/TAFE campuses and employers.
■ Provide internet subsidies for low income students.
■ Ramp up funding for Western Sydney Youth Orchestra, Fairfield Powerhouse youth theatre, Campbelltown Arts Centre.
■ Bring a large Vivid-style festival to Parramatta and build a world-class outdoor venue at Parramatta Park.
Comment and share your brightest ideas to how to improve Sydney.