But a minor victory could be in sight, with Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres revealing the original Castlereagh freeway corridor could be added to the list of 192km of future transport projects under public consultation.

It comes as outrage continues among residents whose homes and business would be levelled for the road, despite previous assurances they were in the clear.

“The clear message coming from the community is they want to be able to consult on the original 1951 corridor as well as the proposed corridor that Transport for NSW has put out,” Mr Ayres said.

“We’re definitely looking at if that’s something we can do as part of the current consultation period.”

Last Wednesday hundreds of residents again rallied at Raygal Landscape and Nursery Supplies on Cranebrook Rd, which has become a hub for the campaign against the new corridor.

Home and business owners say they are exploring legal options to help save the 300 properties impacted by the route.

“They did not consult us at any stage since 1951,” Raygal owner Cathy Galea said. “We have to stand together ... and make the State Government accountable.”

The proposed road would pass through hundreds of properties in suburbs including Castlereagh, Cranebrook, Llandilo and Shanes Park.

The 1951 Castlereagh freeway corridor went through dense bushland to the south of Londonderry before following the new route from Llandilo to the M7.

Penrith Mayor John Thain, councillors Aaron Duke, Karen McKeown and Kevin Crameri and Londonderry state Labor MP Prue Car all spoke in support.

“Don’t ever believe that people power does not make a difference,” Ms Car said.

Resident Dianne Xibberras told the crowd how she and her husband paid “more than they wanted” to buy their home away from the original corridor gazetted in 1951.

“We wanted the assurance that nobody could kick us out other than the bank,” she said. “When I opened that envelope ... that was heartbreaking.”

In response to claims from the Castlereagh Action Group that work could start within five to seven years, Mr Ayres said the government’s first priority was to have an operational north-south rail link from St Marys to the western Sydney airport by 2026.

“All the other corridors are beyond that time frame,” he said. “Castlereagh has the potential to go earlier ... but it’s really driven by demand,” he said.

CALL FOR COUNCIL TO BACK RESIDENTS

Councillor Aaron Duke will call on Penrith Council to publicly oppose the new Bells Line of Rd Connection corridor.

Cr Duke announced last week that he would move a motion at the next ordinary meeting on Monday, April 30 to adopt a formal position on the proposal, which has caused outrage in the community.

“I’m moving a motion ... that Penith Council no longer supports the Castlereagh corridor going through homes in Llandilo, Castlereagh and Cranebrook,” he said.

“I’ll be working to get Penrith Council to start public advocating to the State Government that corridor goes back to what it has been since 1951.”

Cr Duke was among four members of the council to attend a public meeting at a business on Cranebrook Rd last week, which would be lost to the proposed freeway.

Councillors Karen McKeown, Kevin Crameri and Mayor John Thain also spoke out against the plan.

“We did not have consultation about the corridors or the alignment of the corridors,” Cr Thain said.

“(The State Government) keep talking ... that they want certainty to protect corridors for the future. The irony is the only certainty they had was in 1951 they had an old corridor they could have used.”