Development West of the River

On Sunday I was invited to a concerned residents meeting regarding a proposal to subdivide some blocks of land near Kurrajong. You can read about it here in the Hawkesbury Gazette.

With me at this meeting was two Labor representatives and Greens Councillor Leigh WIlliams. What occured was that those people who were in favour of the development proposal turned up and took control of the meeting. Although I did not agree with their points of view, I was glad to have heard them; in a democracy it is important to at least here tho oppositions' point of view.

However, it is clear to me that the Hawkesbury community must draw a line in the sand regarding development in the area. John Aquilina mentioned at this meeting that this "line in the sand" is quite clearly the Hawkesbury river. Although I agree that inappropriate development west of the river must be curbed, we must also think very carefully about development in the Hawkesbury as a whole.

Indeed, as our population grows we must find ways to expand our residential stock. However, this does not mean we can allow inappropriate development to run a muck with little regard for the future of the Hawkesbury, it's people and it's environment. I will not stand idle as this wonderful community gets annexed by urban sprawl.

This is therefore a local and state issue. Planning is key, and planning needs vision. Hawkesbury City Council is set to draw up a new LEP. This is our time to decide what that vision for our community will be. In thinking about that vision ask yourself these questions:

• do you want the Hawkesbury to be subsumed into Sydney's urban sprawl?
• do you want the Hawkesbury to lose it's enormous social capital by losing that inherent community feeling?
• Should the Hawkesbury give in to economic development at the expense of the environment, or do we want remain as "Sydney's backyard"?

These are not difficult questions that as a community we must come to grips with.