On Wednesday 22 November, Inner West Council held a public meeting about the "local impacts" of WestCONnex on Lilyfield and Rozelle. I wasn't able to attend, but Jennifer Aaron of Leichhardt Against WestCONnex was, and she wrote up the following report.
This evening several hundred people packed into the Jimmy Little Centre Lilyfield for the Inner West Council WestCONnex Information session. The all was far too small for those attending with available seating for about 70 people, so people were required to stand or sit on the floor or stand on the footpath on O'Neill Street.
The Mayor spoke about his absolute determination to defeat this project and he was unable to stop it he would ensure that the residents of the inner west had acceptable mitigation plans put in place.
When questioned about his allegiance to the Labor Pary, the Mayor said he would never allow politics to get in his way or influence his decisions and that he would listen to and represent the community as he had always done. Many people just shook their heads in disbelief.
It is interesting to note that Darcy appears to find it very confronting to receive feedback, which he appears to see as criticism, and is unwilling to accept any objection to HIS ideas, which are often ones suggested by others. When he is challenged, he accuses myself and others of being greenies and plants. I find this particularly offensive as I have no affiliation with any political party, however Darcy has on many occasions when I express a different opinion to him accused me of being a Green. It seems that it Darcy’s way or the highway, and anyone who has a differing opinion is against him. Quite incredible behavior for a supposed political figure.
Two motions were put to the meeting, one from myself and one from Wendy Bacon [Note: Prof Bacon has since contacted Cr Lockie to clarify she put forward her question as a journalist, not as a motion for the meeting]. Firstly in relation to the tunnelling under existing homes and especially under fragile sandstone homes built on sandstone and it was moved that no tunnelling occur under residential homes under 35 metres and this was carried unanimously and the second was that the Mayor demand that Luke Foley state his opposition publicly to Stage 3 and state that if elected in 2019 that he would tear up the signed contracts for Stage 3. This was met with rapturous applause.
Many people left the meeting very disillusioned at the lack of answers rather than scant and rushed information on an overhead.
The evening left many questions unanswered which was very disappointing.
I strongly urge as many people as possible to attend the meeting at Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus on Tuesday November 28 from 6.30-8pm.
One of the most disappointing aspects of this evenings meeting was the two very important groups were shut down for the night so that the meeting could be held. They were ACA and AA meetings which are extremely important support groups which are held every week and have been held in the Hall for many years. The meeting facility for the WestCONnex meeting was highly inadequate and it should have been relocated so that these important support groups were not disrupted and those attending the meeting were adequately catered for.