Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

At a public meeting in Parramatta on 4 September, convened to inform stakeholders of progress on the North-Western Transitways, one of the presentation slides showed an aerial view of the Seven Hills Rd – Windsor Rd intersection. A very wide expanse of green grass was clearly visible on either side of the bitumen lanes of Windsor Rd, right up to the back fences of the residential properties adjoining the road. This, said the presenter, was a good example of land use planning, the properties having been set well back from the road to reduce the impact of road noise on the adjacent homes.

A member of the audience happened to have his street directory open, showing the same intersection.

Shown in the street directory, he pointed out, but not on the slide, was the sweeping arc of the proposed westward extension of the M2 motorway, taking up most of the green grass.

It appears the property set-backs were placed there, not to protect residents from road noise, but for the RTA's own purposes - to enable it to build an even wider and noisier motorway sometime in the future, right up to the back fences!