Parramatta Councillors have accused a state-owned corporation of throwing the local Council “under the bus” over the construction of the much-needed Wentworth Point oval.
With the new Wentworth Point high school on track to open for students in term 1 of 2025, City of Parramatta has again called on the State Government to deliver an oval for the fast-growing community.
“It’s with some urgency that we need Landcom to get ahead and start building the school oval,” Councillor Paul Noack said.
“The high school down at Wentworth Point is almost completely constructed, they’ll start students enrolling next year and they’re without an oval.”
A NSW Department of Education update on the development of the high school revealed that the next steps for the new oval involved getting approval from City of Parramatta.
“Once the City of Parramatta Council has approved the Transport for NSW modification to change the location of Ridge Road to allow for new playing fields; a State Significant Development (SSD) modification will be submitted to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) for Phase 2 of the high school,” the document said.
But Noack slammed this, saying the NSW Government and Landcom are trying to put the blame on Parramatta Council for construction not beginning on the new green space.
“Talk about throwing us under the bus, it’s all our fault that Landcom aren’t going ahead with the construction of that much-needed school oval,” he said.
“We need that school oval built ASAP, irrelevant of what the needs of Landcom are in terms of their lust for more buildings out in Wentworth Point.
“What we’ve got to do is call on our political leaders to take firm action, to make sure, one, we have the school oval built as soon as possible, it should be built now.”
Councillor Dan Siviero agreed with Noack, saying the oval and much-anticipated Peninsula Park are both long overdue.
“Providing green open space to people goes a very long way,” he added.
“We can’t talk about how great education is without providing great outdoor spaces, specifically green spaces, for children.
“With the right support and the right advocacy, which continues and will continue, this will get the children of the future what they ultimately deserve.”
Parramatta Council will now write to State Member for Parramatta Donna Davis and the NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully, calling for urgent action by the NSW Government to deliver the oval and Peninsula Park.
Noack warned Wentworth Point will not be conned out of its school oval and 3.9 hectare Peninsula Park.
“We won’t be fooled. We want what was promised back in 2014.”
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.