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The Campbelltown Road Upgrade Farce: "The Road to Nowhere"
(updated 18th July) [Note: this page is currently being updated - please revisit soon].
The
Roads & Maritime Services
(RMS, formerly the RTA) is turning Campbelltown Road into a future six lane 'highway'
(initially four lanes with a wide median strip to allow another
two lanes later 'for future growth'), starting at the Camden Valley Way Crossroads at Casula
and ending at the Denham Court Roundabout ('tapering' to Brooks Road).
The 'highway' will abruptly become two lanes along Campbelltown Road and the adjoining Denham Court Road. The RMS is saying it has no plans to take the road any further...
This is a road to nowhere...or is it?
So much destruction for what ?
The
RMS will slice the scenically protected suburb of Denham Court in two,
landlocking residents caught between the new highway and the F5, taking
up to 37 meters off properties -
including state heritage listed Denham Court House and the Ingleburn
Military Camp, destroying mature native trees that line the roadside,
&
wiping out the last intact remnant of the old 1815-1818 colonial road from
Liverpool to Campbelltown that retains its original contours and rural
setting. Its historic 1854 milestones will be relocated.
See left for c.1835 road map and early sketch of the area.
 
Avenue of trees near Macdonald Road.......& Denham Court House c.1820-1832
Media coverage (click on links):
Macarthur Advertiser 15th May 2013:Anger over Campbelltown Road land grab
Macarthur Advertiser 29th May: Campbelltown Road businesses fear being 'wiped' out
The RMS keeps changing it's story...but not its spots!
Story 1: It's to service the South West Growth Centre (SWGC).
The
upgrade of Campbelltown Road through Denham Court & then Denham Court Road
to the F5 has been on the plans for the South West Growth Centre for
some years (see Regional Infrastructure map for the South West Growth Centre below)...
...but even the SWGC planners have questioned the need for such a wide road as part of the upgrade.
Story 2: The RMS keeps changing its maps. The original downloadable map on the RMS website showed the road stopping at the Denham Court roundabout. After criticism from the SHA about inconsistencies, the RMS re-loaded the map above showing the widening extending to Brooks Road (Denham Court side of the F5). An extension to Brooks Road has nothing to do with the SWGC.
The
RMS now says it has no plans to extend this widening to the start of Brooks Road but merely 'tapers off' to this point (a huge 'taper'). The RMS says Brooks Road belongs to Campbelltown City Council and it is Council's decision whether it opens it up or not (the RMS will merely do the work).
Council says the
Ingleburn Chamber of Commerce is lobbying to open up the Denham Court
side of Brooks
Road to the F5 on ramp. Local residents don't want this and claim it is
un-doable due to merging of traffic from two directions including trucks
from the Ingleburn Industrial Estate.
It won't happen, so why extend the widening this far?
Story 3: The
RMS keeps changing its plans for the future extension of this road. Originally it told SHA that the 'highway' would go all the way along Campbelltown Road (as a 'regional road') through Bow Bowing, St Andrews & Raby to allow Edmondson Park residents easy access to
Campbelltown.Then it said it had no plans to do this. Finally at the Campbelltown Community Forum convened by Campbelltown Council on the 24th June, it admitted that it would eventually extend the 'highway' all the way to Campbelltown.
This makes no sense:
- This
section of Campbelltown Road (between Denham court Road & Raby
Road) is not on the plan for the SWGC and has nothing to do
with the SWGC.
- Campbelltown Road can no longer fully function as a regional road through here since it was closed to northbound traffic at Raby Road for safety reasons, diverting traffic onto the F5 or Raby Road.
- Edmondson Park will have its own shops, is close to Casula's shops and closer to the Liverpool CBD for other services. It is more likely that residents will be drawn in that direction.
- If Edmondson Park residents want to go to Campbelltown they will have two other roads to get there: the newly widened Camden Valley Way and the F5 from
Casula.
Story 4: The RMS has constantly changed its story about the start dates for road construction for that the part of the road affecting Denham Court, claiming that there was no funding. First it was '20 years away'...then '15 years away'...then '2 years away'..... So what is it?
We've since found out that Landcom (now known as Urban Growth) has funding and wants to start its section (Stage 1 - see red section in Detailed Map) in September THIS YEAR - re-aligning Macdonald Road and widening the adjoining Campbelltown Road (destroying the avenue of trees above) to meet the opening of the South West Rail Link.
........but how many people will be living in Edmondson Park by then...and where will this train take them?
...to a local farmer's pig farm it seems.
Sydney Morning Herald, 6th April 2013: South West line a railway in search of a community
.
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So now we have a 'Road to Nowhere' supporting a 'Rail to Nowhere'!
Could our politicians be looking elsewhere for new rail users to cover up a monumentally embarrassing blunder with developments in the South West Growth Centre?
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Residents fear that the real purpose of the 'highway' is to open up the Scenic Hills for development.
This proposed 'highway' ends where the Scenic Hills Environmental Protection Area begins. Land developers and speculators have bought land in the area, but it is landlocked for large development. Residents fear that the
only reason for the RMS's predicted traffic numbers
and the nonsensical width of this road is if there is a plan to rezone the Scenic Hills
for intensive housing and/or industry...profiting the few at the expense of our heritage, environment & community...and creating more congestion.
Last year Campbelltown City Council endorsed the preservation of this area in the new Draft Local Environment Plan that is now with the Department of Planning for approval. Any change to the zoning would be against community wishes.
The
RMS says it is merely acting on orders from the Department of Planning...but our investigations suggest that this is NOT coming from planners for the South West Growth Centre. The RMS needs to come clean and tell us who is giving
these orders and why?
On the 29th May, Macquarie Fields MP Dr Andrew McDonald asked the following questions in Parliament (click on links below):
(1) Questions to the Minister for Planning & Infrastructure
(2) Questions to the Minister for Transport representing the Minister for Roads & Ports
Council backs residents in their vow to fight the RMS plans for six lane highway through Denham Court, destroying NSW heritage.
On 20th May at
a community forum held in Ingleburn, Denham Court and other Campbelltown residents passed
a number of motions to stop the Roads & Maritime Services from
driving the six lane highway through
the scenic protection area and questioned the rush to get the proposal
signed-off when the proposal and the consultation process for it was
clearly flawed.
At a full sitting of Campbelltown City Council on 21st May, Councillors voted unanimously to support the community.
Campbelltown City Council motions on this issue: Click here
RMS lack of consultation, lack of transparency...
The
original closure date for submissions was 13th May 2013...however many
affected residents knew nothing about the project or found out too late
to participate in the RMS's community information sessions. One couple
who will lose 25 metres from their property claim they have never been
contacted by the RMS. The RMS admitted that it had made errors in its
consultation process...but then made this worse by carrying out a letter box
drop on the 24th May that contained false and misleading information.
On the 28th May, Macquarie Fields MP, Andrew McDonald made the following private member's statement to Parliament (click on link below):
Campbelltown Road & Denham Court land resumption
Then on Friday the 31st May, John Hill of Channel Ten News spoke to angry residents:
RMS folds, extends closure date for public submissions to 28th June - then gave a further extension to Friday 5th July
After complaints by residents, representations by Campbelltown Council and lobbying by local MPs, on the
31st May the Minister for Roads, the Hon. Duncan Gay ordered the RMS to extend the
submission closure deadline to June 28th. The RMS then extended it again to the 5th July after complaints from residents that the new documents justifying traffic numbers (that the community had requested on June 24th) were provided too late to include in submissions.
Local MP Bryan Doyle
put out a media release informing the community of his role in this, but
curiously gave his support to the project before the RMS has even completed its review,
leaving residents stunned.
Bryan Doyle MP media release: Click here
Macarthur Advertiser, 4th June 2013: More time for Campbelltown Road upgrade feedback
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See Detailed Map of the widening here. (Note the red section is the bit that Urban Growth want to start in September this year): Detailed Map of Campbelltown Road Upgrade
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Even though the submission period has closed, you can still make a late submission...but ask for the full plan...
Residents can't be expected to
comment on a partial plan. We support the perfectly reasonable request by Denham Court residents for this project to be suspended until a Review of Environmental Factors based on a full plan for the area (as outlined on the SWGC map above, and as confirmed by the RMS at the community meeting), is provided, with sufficient time for residents to research and comment on the plan.
We are also urging Council to support an Interim Heritage Order over the road to allow time to assess its significance and its potential listing on the State Heritage Register.
In the interim we urge residents to make a submission and put in that submission that you demand to see the whole plan and that you will be making additional commentary when that is received.
We deserve to know the full plan for our area. We cannot comment on a partial plan!
Read RMS proposal: Click here
Template Submission: Due to advice that template submissions carry less weight, we encourage residents to put forward their own views using the following format: Letter format . This can be emailed to: CampbelltownRoadUpgrade@rms.nsw.gov.au
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