Parramatta Councillors have again called on the State Government to deliver much-needed green space for the people of Wentworth Point.
City of Parramatta Council has urged the new Labor State Government to “actually take action”, as residents of the high-density suburb continue to wait for the long-promised Peninsula Park to be completed.
At a recent Council Meeting, Labor Councillor Paul Noack said the question of the Peninsula Park and the mixed-use land on Burroway Road is a long-standing issue, one that needs to be resolved for a community that “still has nothing”.
He called on the NSW Government to ensure the mixed-use land it owns on Burroway Road is converted to playing fields for children and families.
“We need to do this now to ensure that land, the only piece of public land left, is handed back to the community,” Noack said.
“The Labor Government has a policy of building as many homes as possible… it’s a great policy, but I got to say, no one’s delivered housing more than anybody else, probably in Australia, than the suburb of Wentworth Point, the most densely-populated suburb in Australia.”
The Council will write to the State Government to advocate that the land on Burroway Road be used to ensure the full 3.9-hectare Peninsula Park is delivered to the community, as promised a decade ago.
The local Council will also ask that the new high school be given ownership of a dedicated school oval, ensuring that the oval is not part of Peninsula Park area.
“What we need in Wentworth Point is space, we need to actually breathe, the kids need a place to go and kick a footy, parents, community need a place to walk around,” Noack added.
“We were promised, and we ought to stick to a promise, and that was 3.9 hectares.
“Now the problem with the 3.9 is, because the Government’s now built a high school there, it’s incurred on the 3.9.
“The only way we can have that promised 3.9 is to use that land that’s owned by us, the people, by Landcom.”
Our Local Community Councillor Dan Siviero echoed Noack’s calls to work with the State Government to provide the Wentworth Point community with its deserved open space.
“A basic human right is to have open space with greenery, not fake greenery, not a tree, but actual open space,” he said.
“The insanity of the former Liberal Government has created this mess, we’ve got to work now with the new Government to resolve it.”
Local Mark Green said Wentworth Point deserves the social infrastructure promised long ago by previous NSW Premiers.
“A decade on and four Premiers later, Wentworth Point has 7,000 apartments and thousands more on the way,” he said.
“There are no ovals, parks or playgrounds, not a single blade of grass for the thousands of kids to play.”
The Council has also agreed to write to NSW Premier Chris Minns and Minister for Planning Paul Scully, calling for an urgent meeting to discuss the Wentworth Point issues.
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.