news, local-news, wilton, new, town, development, council, wollondilly, matthew, deeth

Wollondilly Council is seeking assurances that the developers of the Wilton New Town project will provide adequate employment, infrastructure and government services in the new community. Developer Bradcorp’s planning proposal for the project came before the council on Tuesday, April 18 and councillor Matthew Deeth had several concerns he wanted addressed. “Council is determined to see Wilton New Town provide one job for every household,” Cr Deeth said. “The developers are saying residents will have construction jobs or at-home jobs but we can’t rely on those types of jobs to sustain the city. We have to ensure there is long-term employment into the future. “There is no way we are putting a city in place with sub-adequate employment options for residents.” Cr Deeth said if more employment, adequate infrastructure and provisions of services were not catered for then the council would reconsider its position on the development. “If we aren’t going to get the best outcomes for the community then we may have to reconsider our position on the development and look at our options,” he said. Cr Deeth uged the state government to get on board and create services that would offer high-quality jobs. “We want to provide great health services and that will attract doctors and nurses,” he said. “The first step is to provide health services and we need to talk about preserving land to build a hospital in 30 years.” Cr Deeth said the council, developers and state government needed to plan for public transport because it was critical to the town’s success. “The developers and state government can’t expect the town to exist by itself with only buses running to Campbelltown,” he said. “There needs to be an investment in rail so we can plan and achieve the best outcome for the city.” The council wants the electrification of the train line to Maldon or into the centre of the new town to be considered. “The rest of the Maldon to Dombarton rail line corridor also needs be reserved with the option of making it a passenger line also available.” Cr Deeth said the councillors were also concerned that an immediate public high school had not been considered by the developers. “Bradcorp has said it would build a high school once the development reached 5000 houses but there is a desperate need for a high school now.” Cr Deeth said the council also had biodiversity concerns and it was committed to preserving the ecologically sensitive environment. “We want to preserve and show off the shire’s biodiversity. We can’t just put houses everywhere.”

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/76aQiSR9c8v6pzQYtCfcnc/c3764116-6e74-4f65-a24b-11cb20f9b0fa.jpg/r0_139_6000_3529_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg