His solid performance at the halfway mark in his mayoral term has repaid the faith residents placed in him in 2012 when he was popularly-elected to the top job, reinforcing his political future as one of the Liberal Party’s rising stars.
And he can even get away with the occasional corny line when fronting the media, as he did recently on TV, spruiking plans for a major face-lift and rejuvenation of Liverpool’s CBD.
“We want to take Liverpool from being a caterpillar, into a butterfly; it’s a transformational change,” Cr Mannoun recently told the Nine Network, which in May also reported the same “major makeover” was coming, only this time there was a slick new ‘fly over video’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DZVFDHxxl0
Liverpool City Council is looking to invest more than $15 million to transform the city centre into a place that that will encourage business to invest and people to visit.
The transformation begins with five key revitalisation projects, including establishment of a “city nerve centre” connecting to shops, transport and services within the CBD the 5,000 people working in - and thousands visiting - one of Australia’s largest health and medical precincts,.
A ‘City Eat Street’ will liven the southern end of the CBD with restaurants, coffee shops and nightlife catering to all ages, tastes and budgets, while a revitalised ‘Macquarie Mall’ will form a vibrant hub showcasing and connecting a diverse mix of nearby shops.
New ‘Urban Breathing Spaces’ will connect the CBD to the Georges River and transform Bigge Park into an integrated public recreational space while more defined ‘Gateways’ will serve as entry points into the CBD.
“Residents won’t be hit up for this,” explains Cr Mannoun, who says special levy on business interests collects $1.5m per year which is reserved in a special fund for these types of projects..
“It’s only the commercial property owners and the developers who are building this.”
Council in September, allocated $1million from the Town Improvement Fund (TIF) towards further work to bring three projects - revitalisation of Macquarie Mall and Bigge Park and a transformation of key gateways - to implementation stage.
"Building Our New City is progressing well," Cr Mannoun says.
"From our first consultations with business and community about the need to prepare our city for future growth, to working closely with the NSW Architect's Office and urban designers, through to (Council’s) decision to take three projects to the next stage, we are well on our way to transforming our city.”
Of course, the spectacular rise of Liverpool as a key commercial and residential centre has not come about solely because of the enthusiasm and hard work of Cr Mannoun.
There is some long term transport planning that has come to early fruition, reinvigorated action by the local business community and its leaders and developers are proposing new buildings that will change the way people perceive Liverpool and entice them to visit in larger numbers.
But it is the new Badgery’s Creek Airport, in Liverpool’s LGA that will supercharge its econominc fortunes.
According to a Deloitte study, prepared for the NSW Business Chamber, the new airport will tip between $9.2 billion and $15.6 billion into Western Sydney’s economy between 2020 and 2050 and over the same period between $15.7 billion and $25.6 billion into the economy for the whole of Sydney.
http://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/economics/articles/economic-impact-western-sydney-airport.html
Liverpool is the biggest winner, with nearly 16,000 jobs to be created generating incomes totalling close to $5 billion.
And with the tidal wave of economic benefits, the long-serving president of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce – the man they call “Mr Liverpool” – Harry Hunt believes it’s more important than ever for local business to have a strong voice.
In February this year he was re-elected for his 11th straight term and publicly acknowledged there had been criticism around that time and he’s since gone about addressing the issue.
“The transformation of Liverpool into a major regional city for South West Sydney is becoming increasingly more evident as cranes dominate the Liverpool CBD landscape,” Hunt says.
“Within two years there will be an additional 2,000 residents in the Liverpool CBD alone. By mid-2030, one in every 2 residents in Sydney will live in Sydney’s West.”
Hunt has been a member of The Western Sydney Airport Alliance since its inception and says he’s pleased its efforts have driven forward the development of a western Sydney airport at Badgery’s Creek.
Alliance members have always believed a major employment catalyst was needed in western Sydney to increase the number of job opportunities and improve the work-life balance of the regions two million residents.
“The need for a strong voice for the Liverpool business community has never been more important and we have been making changes to accommodate the new demands placed on our Chamber,” Hunt says.
“We will be increasing the Executive to eleven Board members to enable greater member participation to better serve our business community.
“We are strengthening our partnerships with government at all levels. We are growing the Chamber with concerted efforts to increase our visibility within the business community.”
Hunt says membership numbers have been increasing at unprecedented rates, as more and more businesses realise that Liverpool needs a united voice to drive infrastructure developments critical to ensuring business in Liverpool receives maximum benefits.
In another boost to the area, the NSW Government recently announced the new 11.4km South West Rail Link between Glenfield and Leppington had been completed ahead of schedule and under-budget. It includes two new stations, Leppington and Edmonson Park.
It will provide a crucial link to Badgery’s Creek Airport in the future, when the line is extended from Leppington. The NSW Government has protected this transport corridor among 19 that have been identified across Sydney to allow the expansion of the rail network to service expected growth areas.
Now Liverpool Council wants the NSW Government to bring the city’s existing rail connection with the Sydney CBD “up to speed” because it took 50 minutes to commute from Liverpool station to Central.
At a December meeting of Liverpool Council a motion was passed to lobby the NSW Government for a new express service between Liverpool and Central.
Councillor Mazhar Hadid said that it took more than 50 minutes to commute from Liverpool station to Central.
The motion included plans by Liverpool Council to circulate a petition advocating for the express train service.
