Riverstone West Business Park Causes Problems

“There are some significant problems with this site and the government must resolve them before it considers proceeding with the rezoning,” said Ms Hale.

“It’s flood prone, 70 tenants will be displaced and public transport is inadequate.”

 “The Greens support the creation of new jobs in western Sydney but there is no guarantee that the projected 12,000 jobs will actually be new rather than merely relocated jobs.

 “The Business Park is being placed in a flood prone area, which will necessitate massive earthworks. This could have serious environmental consequences for Eastern Creek and its surrounds.

“I am concerned that 70 people renting homes owned by Mastergroup will be evicted because of the development. I understand that some of the tenants have been there for 30 years and were former abattoir workers. A few are elderly with significant health problems.

“At the very least I would like to see Housing NSW visit those tenants and assess the vulnerable and elderly for public housing eligibility. Mastergroup should also consider giving them a relocation payment to assist them if they have to move, given the tight Sydney rental market.

“Garfield Road is already congested. A business park will just add to that car traffic – which is why the government really needs to think carefully about public transport access.

“The failure to duplicate the railway from Riverstone to Mulgrave will obviously restrict the number of people that can access the site via train. Even if there is an upgrade of Vineyard station, that won’t necessarily assist more people to get to work in the business park if there’s only one rail line.

“We cannot keep building these new business parks employing thousands of people with no decent, high-capacity public transport access.

”The northwest rail line has been scrapped so the whole area remains overly dependant on cars. The Greens believe northwest Sydney needs a heavy rail line comparable to other suburban areas because it is a growth area. It needs to be built sooner rather than later.

“The Greens are also concerned that links between developers and NSW Labor undermine proper planning processes. We know the Business Park consortium members have donated money to the NSW Labor Party and John Aquilina’s campaign received $2000 in 2007 from Mastergroup, the major landholder at the proposed business park site. Those donations should not result in a favourable rezoning being pushed through without the issues at the site being dealt with first,” Ms Hale concluded.