Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, 24 February, I attended, along with the Mayor of the Inner West Council and many hundreds of local residents, a rally of Save Marrickville South against the proposed rezoning of Carrington Road in Marrickville, which of course is in the electorate of Barton. The proposed rezoning would allow Carrington Road to be transformed into a string of 10 residential buildings, some up to 35 storeys high, that would accommodate some 2,600 apartments. I stress it is a proposal. There are real concerns that this proposed rezoning would have an overshadowing, traffic and congestion effect and would affect jobs and local small businesses in the precinct at the moment, as well as impacting on the character of our beloved Marrickville. The proponents, Mirvac, have now made a commitment that this proposal will go back to first principles and to consult with the local community.

I would like to thank Paul Mortimer and Kelsie Dadd of Save Marrickville South, as well as their colleagues, for their tireless advocacy and hard work in protecting Marrickville from unreasonable and unsympathetic overdevelopment. They should keep up the good fight. I'd like to acknowledge the attendance of my Labor colleagues: the Inner West Council mayor, Darcy Byrne, and the Labor member for Summer Hill, Jo Haylen. I also want to acknowledge the involvement and the very strong political leadership and voice on this important issue from the member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese.

On Saturday, 3 March, I attended the F6 Action town hall against the planned freeway which will run right through Kogarah, which is part of my electorate. This proposal will bring more congestion to our local streets, disrupt surrounding suburbs, run through parklands and place smokestacks and exhaust fumes right near residential housing. It is clear that what we need is not more roads but more public transport. We need to see a greater investment in public transport from the New South Wales government which will get people to where they want to be quicker. I acknowledge Anne Field for her work and also the people from the Labor side that attended the rally: Steve Kamper, the member for Rockdale; Chris Minns, the member for Kogarah; and Ed McDougall of Bayside Council.

Finally, some good news: I want to commend everyone that's worked in the Bay Community Garden, which I visited at Kyeemagh not so long ago. It is a wonderful effort by the local community to develop a communal garden, which has doubled in size. The garden also allows local residents to grow their own plants, fruits, vegetables and herbs, which I got great samples of. I congratulate all of the Bay Community Garden people for their really hard work. This is a wonderful initiative for the local community.