LOCAL NEWS
Our giant failure: Future • Outgoing Mayor’s regret over stalled Lakes development • Locals left to swelter MAKAYLA MUSCAT
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fter decades of failed attempts to coordinate development, Western Sydney Lakes (formerly Penrith Lakes) is sitting idle while the State Government launches a feasibility study for Prospect Reservoir. As the country moves into what is expected to be one of its hottest summers in years, people further west are calling to open the Lakes so they can enjoy recreational and water-based activities. However, last month, it was announced that the government is looking at opening Prospect’s backup water supply to the public, meaning the vision for Penrith’s purposebuilt waterways could be abandoned again. “There doesn’t seem to be any great efforts to get it open,” Penrith Councillor Tricia Hitchen told the Weekender. “It seems horribly unfair and I don't understand why we’re being ignored.” After the quarrying was completed in 2015, it was understood by the community that the site would be rehabilitated and returned to the government. There have been numerous plans to develop the area into an international tourist destination but years of ridiculous bureaucracy has ensured that none of the bold proposals put forward have come to fruition.
Investigators at Sydney Water’s Urban Plunge team have deemed the water safe for swimming but it seems the future of the Lakes is being given little consideration, even though they could be the answer to cooling down in hot summers to come. In her final address as the Mayor of Penrith, Councillor Tricia Hitchen said it's a major regret that Western Sydney Lakes still aren't open. She said it’s frustrating that the Lakes are sitting behind a locked fence, with no sign of that changing any time soon. “It's bigger than Sydney Harbour… the water is perfect to swim in and we can’t get in there,” Hitchen told the Weekender. She also said that people from Penrith shouldn’t have to travel an hour-and-a-half to the beach when they have a perfectly good one in their own backyard. “Once upon a time, going to the beach was free but now with petrol, tolls and parking it's $100,” she said. “People can't afford that.” Penrith City Council is “really keen” to work with the Lakes Corporation and NSW Government to masterplan the area. “It's such a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Hitchen said. Western Sydney Lakes CEO Jacqueline Vozzo said a golf course, heliport and wave park have been approved for the site. In relation to the rest of the most recent
An artist’s impression of the vision for Western Sydney Lakes in Penrith.
proposal, the Department of Planning said more work had to be done due to the flood and evacuation risk. According to Vozzo, this was disappointing news. “I think it's fair to say that we were disap-
pointed that our fulsome rezoning proposal was not accepted by Planning,” she told the Weekender. “We took a lot of checks to ensure that there were no flooding and evacuation concerns.” Vozzo said she wants the government to be
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