7th February, 2024.
The second Sydney airport will create an economic boom and change the landscape of south-west Sydney forever. I cannot really imagine it. The entryway to Australia is soon to be on our doorstep and within metres of my electorate. However, my people, whose front doors are just a 20-minute drive from the runway, are not only forgotten but also treated with contempt. Suddenly, in 2021, the townships of Silverdale, Warragamba, Werombi, Wallacia, Theresa Park and Orangeville had a restriction placed upon them due to their proximity.
I know we need to ensure people build homes to a certain standard and in appropriate areas so that it will not cost future governments or cause noise issues for the home owners. The current guidelines, introduced in 2021, provide in minute detail what is needed to accomplish this, but a larger-than-necessary area was engulfed pending mapping of noise-affected areas. That mapping is now complete, yet the current restrictions continue to apply to blocks outside of the affected area, only allowing a single dwelling to be built on a property, no matter the size. This means additional dwellings like granny flats are not allowed to be built, even with council approval.
Take the Osborn family from Silverdale, for example. Lisa and her son Ryan's 20-acre lot at Silverdale is largely empty acreage that could easily fit a dozen homes, and you would never know the difference from the road. The Osborns want to protect their land and provide for their family. They submitted an application to council for two homes, one large and another smaller, with a few hundred metres between. The Osborns view this land as their forever home and do not want to live together in a single, large, 15-bedroom home. They want a two-bedroom home and a five-bedroom home—not unreasonable. Under this Government, Lisa and Ryan's dream homes may never happen. They sit and wait for the Minister to change the legislation that currently exists under the State environmental planning policy [SEPP].
Minister after Minister stands in this place and says that this State needs housing. We hear time and time again what needs to be done. I have alerted the Minister and the Premier, and I have asked for the restrictions on my electorate to be changed. And still they remain. Why is it that over the river at Luddenham village, under these same restrictions—State Environmental Planning Policy (Precincts—Western Parkland City) 2021, which protects the Western Parkland City—there is an allowance for additional dwellings? A village that is much more affected by the airport has fewer restrictions. What is the difference between the two areas? It is not only about the areas. The SEPP goes into two particular blocks of land, one of which is in my area, because it was fought in court. My argument to my community is that it falls on the desk of the previous Government that imposed it and also now on a government that has delayed removing the unnecessary restrictions. Why do political parties make life so difficult for my community?
The Minister needs to help me solve the issue. I am puzzled as to why Government members can stand here and profess to need housing and yet tell the Osborn family that they cannot have two houses on their acreage—their dream houses. It was allowable in 2020, but not since 2021. We are 20 minutes from the airport, but our residents have all of the problems of the airport but none of the opportunities. They have the noise and the pollution but no connectivity to the jobs on offer and unnecessary conditions that prevent them from even building a granny flat on their acreage. Thanks for that! I believe we can do much better, and I intend to do something about it.