At a time when Penrith can least afford it, we have been side swiped by the Federal Government’s axing of vital local infrastructure, says Member for Penrith, Karen McKeown OAM. “I am deeply concerned that these cuts were announced without any prior consultation or warning. Western Sydney has borne the brunt of the cuts which I find unacceptable given that we are a region with the third largest economy in Australia”.

Local infrastructure has not kept pace with our rapid growth. As a region Western Sydney and Penrith in particular has done the heavy lifting taking on more than our share of increased population. The announcement to scrap Kingswood Commuter Car Park is short sighted in the extreme. Commuter carparks are an important piece of infrastructure for community to access public transport as we are heavily dependent on our cars.

While the commuter carpark cut was nonsensical, we also have the triple hit with the axing of Mulgoa Road Stage 2 - Glenmore Parkway to Jeanette Street, Stage 5A Blaikie Road to Jamison Road and Stage 5B Jamison Road to Union Road.

While Stage 1 of the Mulgoa Rd upgrades is going ahead without these missing links traffic will be funnelled to a standstill. To cut public transport options and then further cut vital road and arterial upgrades (especially to the new airport) will severely impact our city and businesses.

In July this year I had an onsite meeting with dozens of local business owners and operators who were concerned with the planned changes to the industrial end of Coreen Ave as it would significantly restrict access to their premises and force heavy vehicles through the narrow residential streets of Thornton. There were a significant number of objections to the proposal and at the time I wrote to the Federal Minister making representations on behalf of our residents and businesses explaining the impact on Coreen Ave and advocated that those funds would be better spent on the Mulgoa Rd widening future stages which were a much higher priority. This was also confirmed in a subsequent meeting I instigated with Transport for NSW. I fail to see how 2 roundabouts and a set of traffic lights on Coreen Ave can be determined as of National importance but finishing Mulgoa Rd widening is not?

This review may well have been conducted on a desktop, I challenge those making these decisions to rethink this announcement and visit our region to talk to our communities and experience the difficulties we have each and every day getting around the city and to our employment, then explain to us how these cuts are justified.