Mayor of The Hills Shire, Dr Michelle Byrne had launched the Fight for a Fairer Hills Future campaign, which is calling on the NSW Government to urgently fund critical road upgrades, new schools, sporting fields and local infrastructure.
Mayor Byrne launched the campaign in Kellyville alongside Old Windsor Road, a major arterial that is struggling to cope with booming populations in The Hills Shire, Blacktown and Hawkesbury council areas.
It's also where the NSW Government has just rezoned the one square kilometre Kellyville-Bella Vista precinct, to allow more than 11,600 apartments and more than 23,000 people.
“According to the NSW Government’s own housing targets, The Hills Shire is the fastest growing local government area in the state and our residents are fed up with the lack of funding for critical infrastructure like roads, schools and sporting fields,” Mayor Byrne said.
“Windsor and Old Windsor Roads are already at a standstill during the morning and after-noon peaks and if you think it’s bad now, you haven’t seen anything yet.
“Despite approving more than 11,600 new apartments between Kellyville and Bella Vista, the NSW Government has not announced any plans or funds to upgrade Old Windsor Road.
“Council road-tested the commute from Gables to Norwest every day last week during the morning peak and the average speed never made it above 24 km/h. That’s 45 minutes for just over an 18km drive.
"If it’s like this now – imagine what it will be like in 2041 when the population of our Shire booms by another 71 per cent to 328,600 people.
“The NSW Government’s own housing targets list The Hills Shire and Blacktown as the top two growth councils over the next five years. Yet these roads are only two lanes and they’ve been two lanes for too long.
“The NSW Government has forecast an additional 23,300 homes to be built in The Hills Shire over the next five years. It took us more than 100 years to build 60,000 homes and now they expect us to grow by a third in five years.
“It’s just not realistic to expect hundreds of thousands of people to move to the North-West with no significant investment in its most important road.
“We’re calling on residents and workers across North-West Sydney to sign our petition to the NSW Parliament demanding the upgrade of 45 roads including Windsor and Old Windsor Roads, and urgent funding for schools and sports fields.
“It’s not just the state that should be paying attention to this. Housing is a major priority for both the Federal Government and Opposition. Now is the time for both parties to put their money where their mouth is on housing by funding critical infrastructure.”
NSW Member for Kellyville, Ray Williams MP, has presented Council’s petition to the NSW Parliament and urged the NSW Government to act.
“Every day, thousands of Hills residents are stuck in traffic, wasting valuable time be-cause our roads can’t cope. I am getting behind this campaign and fighting for the road upgrades our community desperately needs before the situation gets any more dire,” Mr Williams said.
“The NSW Government must commit to funding these road upgrades now, or our com-munity will be stuck with decades of worsening congestion.”
Approximately 45 major road and intersection upgrades have been identified by Council as major priorities for NSW Government funding including:
Road widening and upgrades:
• Terry Road Upgrade – Windsor Road to Mason Road
• The Water Lane Upgrade – Annangrove Road to Nelson Road
• Annangrove Road Upgrade – Windsor Road to The Water Lane
• Windsor Road Upgrade – Memorial Avenue to Showground Road
• Old Windsor Road Upgrade – Celebration Drive to Windsor Road
• Showground Road Upgrade – Cecil Avenue to Old Northern Road
• Old Northern Road Upgrade – Cecil Avenue to Francis Street
• Withers Road, Commercial Road, and Kenthurst Road Upgrades
• Round Corner Bypass
Signalisation upgrades:
• Old Windsor Road/Celebration Drive
• Old Windsor Road/Memorial Avenue
• Old Windsor Road/Norwest Boulevard
• Norwest Boulevard/Lexington Drive
• Windsor Road/Showground Road
• Showground Road/Victoria Avenue
• Showground Road/Gilbert Road
• Castle Hill Road/Highs Road/County Drive
• Windsor Road/Wrights Road
