South West Rail to go underground
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- Created on Monday, 23 November 2015 12:49
We are very pleased to advise you that the NSW Minister for Transport today announced that the south west railway will now be constructed underground south of the proposed station at Oran Park.
The railway will now be underground through Harrington Grove. The Government has said that the new proposal will not require the resumption of any homes. The underground proposal that has been announced will also not impact on the important Harrington Forest.
We congratulate the Government on listening to the concerns that we all had with the original surface proposal and for adopting the underground option. We particularly wish to thank our local politician, Chris Patterson, for hearing our concerns and for his very effective representations that he made on our behalf.
We have yet to see the detail of the Government’s underground proposal and we will be reviewing it closely when the details are available. We look forward to working with the Government on this.
Below is a media release issued this morning by the Member for Camden, Chris Patterson.
IN A huge win for many Oran Park and Harrington Park residents, the South West Rail Link extension will go underground from Oran Park through to Narellan.
Camden state Liberal MP Chris Patterson made the announcement this morning at Chesalon Retirement Village, Oran Park, which was facing an unknown future with the corridor cutting through it. The proposed corridor was announced and placed on public exhibition in June. The proposal included stations at Rossmore, Bringelly, North Bringelly, Oran Park, Narellan and Badgerys Creek to serve the future airport. The corridor also cut through Harrington Park. Landowners in Wildfire formed the Wildfire Estate Residents Action Group to push for the underground option. NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the announcement was good news for Macarthur region residents. “While construction on a rail line is not expected to start for some years, even decades, we need to do the planning now to make sure we can build this crucial infrastructure more efficiently and cost effectively when it’s needed,” Mr Constance said. “Earlier this year the NSW Government carried out detailed consultation with the community to help refine corridor options for a future rail extension between Leppington and Narellan. “While work is still continuing to refine the future corridor, we are pleased to announce that the final recommended corridor will include an underground alignment between Oran Park and north of Narellan. “This will ensure that the corridor will avoid impacting existing homes in Oran Park the Anglicare aged care facility, Wildfire Estate, and Harrington Park.” Mr Patterson said a number of concerns were raised by residents during the public consultation period about the corridor running through new homes in the area. “The communities of Oran Park and Harrington Park are growing rapidly, and I’m pleased the government has agreed to go underground for this part of the corridor preservation,” Mr Patterson said. “This is a great outcome for these communities and will come as a relief for many new homeowners who are building or have just moved into their homes in the Oran Park and Harrington Park areas.” More to come.
Development Update - Forestgrove Drive
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- Created on Wednesday, 18 November 2015 11:26
Dear Residents,
The roadworks on Oran Park Drive are progressing as planned and the new dual carriageway is starting to take shape.
Thank you once again for your ongoing patience and cooperation during this busy time. We understand that the current arrangement is of inconvenience to some residents and we are working closely with TRN to ensure the project is completed as soon as possible.
In order to further reduce the length of the construction program, there are two closures of Forestgrove Drive planned for the upcoming school holiday period.
During the two periods below, Forestgrove Drive will be closed completely at Oran Park Drive.
- Wednesday 16th December – Thursday 24th December
- Monday 11th January – Friday 22nd January
During these times please use the detour via Harrington Parkway to access Oran Park Drive.
These closures will allow critical road upgrade works to the intersection at Forestgrove Drive, and will expedite the overall construction period. These are the only remaining planned closures of Forestgrove Drive.
Excluding the above closures, Forestgrove Drive will continue to operate as left in/left out only for the duration of the project. We would like to remind residents that there is no right turn at this intersection as it is both a safety hazard and causes traffic delays for other road users. Please remember that road work signage is enforceable by the NSW Police and road users need to obey all road signs.
The final intersection configuration will include traffic signals and a dedicated right turn lane from Forestgrove Drive onto Oran Park Drive.
Once again thank you for your patience during this time and please remember to slow down, take care and drive safely during this busy period. At the completion of these works, we will all benefit from an arrangement that is both safer and more convenient.
Kind regards,
Tim Goldacre
Development Manager, Harrington Estates
Learn to Swim Program - Commencing January 2016
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- Created on Wednesday, 18 November 2015 12:11
Harrington Forest Frolic
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- Created on Friday, 13 November 2015 15:56
Harrington Forest Frolic
Over 100 South Western Sydney residents celebrated the launch of Bush Mates, an exciting new community engagement program, at the Harrington Forest Frolic on Saturday, 7 November.
Bush Mates, run by the National Parks Association of NSW (NPA), is a program to raise awareness and educate South Western Sydney’s 300,000 new residents on how they can have a positive impact on their local environment.
“New residents will be living whiskers to cheek with a host of animals including Koalas, Regent Honeyeaters, Eastern Bentwing Bats and Wallaroos. Through Bush Mates we want to encourage people to be good neighbours to the bush next door,” says Margot Law, NPA’s Citizen Science Officer.
“As well as having highly visible impacts on the environment such as habitat loss, new suburbs pose less obvious threats such as cats hunting wildlife to garden plants becoming weeds. When these impacts combine, they put stress on the environment. Through simple changes to your lifestyle you can help to minimise these impacts and make a big difference to your local bushland.”
“Plant native species in your garden, build a birdbath or pop a nestbox into your tree – there are lots of easy ways to be a good mate to the bush.”
At Saturday’s launch residents were given an opportunity to learn more about their local environment and to meet some of the plants and animals that will share their new homes.
For all of you who went on the birds walk and talk, Mark Fuller from the Cumberland Land Conservancy has kindly sent us his bird list for the day - you can see the list and photographs of the 29 species on our Bush Mates Blog, including the Rufous Fantail which was our Bird of the Day.
The event was the first in a series of community engagement and educational initiatives that will be run as part of Bush Mates.
Camden Council, WWF-Australia, Greening Australia and The University of Sydney are working with NPA to deliver the program which is funded by WWF Australia and Greater Sydney Land Services through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme.
“Living next to nature provides a wonderful opportunity to enjoy and learn about the world we live in. Bush Mates is about celebrating and appreciating one of the things that make Sydney such a great place to live – the wealth of beautiful bushland right on our doorsteps,” says Margot.
For more information on Bush Mates visit www.bushmates.org.au