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Canal Update July 2011 (crag1101) |
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The fight to make the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve cycleway safe again is continuing. The change of state government has slowed things down, as expected, but we won’t be letting the issue die anytime soon.
Meeting with local MP In June 2011 CRAG met with the new local member for Smithfield electorate, Andrew Rohan to discuss the bridge crossing over Reconciliation Road (Prospect Highway).It was a fruitful meeting and one that gave the opportunity to discuss issues regarding the crossing. Andrew was supportive of CRAG’s campaign to have a safe cycleway returned for all to use and has approached the Planning Minister on the issue. In August 2009 CRAG met with current state planning Minister, Brad Hazzard who also gave his support. CRAG will be providing the new government with background material that has been requested. This project will probably present more twists and turns in the coming months and we are ready to address them as they occur. As we have expressed in the past, a bridge is the community’s preferred option and we will continue to work towards achieving that. TransGrid & the Reserve TransGrid, a state owned corporation, is proposing to install a new underground electricity cable and associated works within the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve for the purpose of providing electricity from the new Holroyd Substation, at Hyland Road Greystanes, to the Rookwood Road substation at Potts Hill. TransGrid is planning to utilise the former maintenance road within the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve as its preferred route for this underground cable and proposes to excavate a section of the reserve approximately 3m wide and 1.1m deep over a distance of 6.2km from Hyland Road Greystanes to Sydney Water’s Pipehead complex at Guildford. Within the excavated section of the reserve a concrete box culvert will be constructed and six cables will be laid. The box culvert will have a concrete lid and then be covered with soil that has been removed and stored during the excavation process. This cable laying project will take approximately 9 months and during this time it will be necessary to close sections of the cycleway and put diversions in place to allow the construction to progress. Pipe Head Guildford Sydney Water Corporation is planning to subdivide and sell off for development a part of their Pipehead holding that is surplus to operating requirements. Sydney Water is not planning to develop the site but sell to a developer for the primary purpose of residential dwellings. A section of the site to be sold, known as area 1, encompasses a section of the Lower Canal of approx 190m and is the only heritage item to remain situated within the surplus land. Also within this section is part of the cycleway that links Guildford to Prospect Reservoir and beyond. CRAG made a submission to Holroyd City Council in August 2010 on this project and made a further submission on the revised application in June 2011. Lend Lease Southern Residential Lands In June 2011 members of CRAG met with Delfin Lend Lease’s Southern Residential Land team to discuss the residential development on Prospect Hill at Widemere. The issues raised by CRAG included safety considerations for the cycleway, and public, during construction, and at the design phase, provision of safety access to the site and compliance with the requirements of the reserve manager, Holroyd City Council. CRAG has expressed that the integrity of the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve must be maintained at all times. Bushcare Bushcare activities are being undertaken in the Canal Reserve on the second Sunday of each month. The Bushcare Volunteer Supervisor is Narelle Hulbert and the group meets on Macquarie Road near the Aqueduct. The remaining dates for 2011 are: July 10th August 14th September 11th October 9th November 13th For Further details contact Holroyd City Council’s Bush Technical Officer, Raffaele (known as Raff) on 0404 830401. www.build-our-bridge.org CRAG is primarily keeping the community informed via the website – www.build-our bridge.org – so please look to the site for regular updates. The website fully documents all of the issues and has copies of the original plans and other evidence of how the NSW State Government and the RTA have let the community down. Who do I Contact As Crown Land the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve is owned by the NSW Department of Lands. The Department of Lands has appointed Holroyd City Council trustee for the reserve. Contact details for all reserve issues is: Holroyd City Council on (02) 9840 9840 To report fires ring 000 To report anti-social activity ring Merrylands Police on (02) 9897 4899 CRAG now has three distinct web addresses: www.build-our-bridge.org for the latest information about the fight make the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve safe again. www.canalreserve.org for information about the reserve, it’s history and photographs. www.crag-inc.org for information about CRAG, such as meeting dates and contact details. CRAG also has a Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/canalreserve Help us build a visible support base... CRAG meetings are usually held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm in the Widemere Public School Staff Room, Nemesia Street, Greystanes. If you would like more information about the Lower Prospect Canal Reserve come along. Meeting dates are available at: www.crag-inc.org/meetings.html Everyone is welcome. CRAG’s email address is: crag@canalreserve.org |
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