Susan Templeman blasts western City Deal in Parliament speech

Ms Templeman made similar comments in an interview with the Gazette last year.

The Greater Sydney Commission has produced the draft Western City District Plan, a part of the draft Greater Sydney Region Plan. The works are high level planning guides for federal and state governments as well as local councils in the future.

The Greater Sydney Commission says its view is for a future Sydney, split into three distinct cities, with metropolitan centres in the city, Parramatta and Penrith.

In Parliament on Monday, February 5, Ms Templeman repeated her opinion that the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains had been forgotten in the planning.

“It's a really hollow experience—and that, for me, pretty much sums up these so-called City Deals. There's a lot of expectation—it's beautiful packaging—but it's pretty empty inside,” she said.

She compared the plans to a Kinder Surprise chocolate without the toy inside.

“As the Member for Macquarie, which encompasses the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury, time and time again our Kinder Surprises don't have a toy,” she said.

“Sometimes we don't even get the chocolate; we just get the foil, the words on the outside telling us what's inside and how great it's going to be—but usually it's great for everybody but us.

“We're too far west to benefit from investment in the city but too close to the city to be compensated through regional funding and grants, and so my community continues to run second. The City Deals program is no exception.”

After her speech in Parliament, Ms Templeman added that the Hawkesbury, in particular, had a number of planning problems that needed serious attention.

“If the City Deals are to have any substance at all, they must address the need for investment in new, flood resilient bridges without destroying the very thing that makes the Hawkesbury liveable – its agriculture and its heritage,” she said.