Badgerys Creek residents given deadline to move for construction of Sydney's proposed second airport

Updated

Residents at Badgerys Creek in Sydney's west have been given a deadline of June 15 to move so construction can start on the city's proposed second airport.

After the deadline, utilities such as water and power will be turned off and local roads will be closed.

Many people living in the predominately low-income area were worried they would not find a new home in time, and many said they simply could not afford to move.

Joan Peever, 76, is a pensioner and has lived at Badgerys Creek for almost 20 years.

She and her daughter, Cindy, have been looking as far as Goulbourn for a new home but have not been able to find anything in their price range.

"I'm too old for all this packing and it's heartbreaking," Ms Peever said.

The retired horse trainer has two horses, three ponies and four dogs, as well as cats, chickens and birds on the 10 acres she rents for $300 a week.

She said she was terrified she would not be able to take her animals with her.

"What do you do?" she said.

"Say 'well, I'll take those four, I'll kill three and I'll keep one?' How do you do that?"

'There's no win-win situation here for me'

Roy Davies is a single father of two and lives pay packet to pay packet.

He said he literally could not afford to move and did not have the capacity to save up for a rental bond.

"I know I'm going to lose, there's no win-win situation here for me," he said.

Mr Davies said he had had little help from the property manager contracted by the Federal Government to manage the tenancies at Badgerys Creek, other than a suggestion that he sign up for public housing.

Public housing in New South Wales has a 10-year waiting list.

"She's asked to talk to me about moving out but there's been no support that they're offering," he said.

"[Their attitude is] friendly but couldn't give a rats - you're only renting the place, you're nothing special."

The problem facing residents is that Badgerys Creek is a low-income area and has not kept pace with the blossoming suburbs adjacent to it.

Robert Henry has been a real estate agent in the area for 35 years and said rental prices in suburbs near Badgerys Creek had grown in line with the rest of Sydney.

"The growth has been fantastic over that period of time and the market is very, very high," he said.

Single mother Bec Hatten lives at Badgerys Creek and supports her daughter and intellectually disabled son on a carer's pension.

She said she would have to pay at least double the rent she is paying now, just so she can stay in the area.

"I don't know how I'm going to do it, to be honest," she said.

"I'm looking at a 20-kilometre radius around my son's school and I'm still looking at paying at least $450 a week rent."

A handful of families have already left Badgerys Creek - their houses have been fenced off and the gates padlocked.

The Federal Government said it needed to secure the empty houses and demolish them as soon as possible so it could begin site analysis and planning for the airport.

The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, which is overseeing the project, is aiming to start construction in 2016.

Topics: community-and-society, badgerys-creek-2171, sydney-2000

First posted