As 2023 draws to a close, I want to thank everyone I’ve met at community events, who has written to me, or shared with me on street corners or at cafes how we can make Willoughby an even better place to live.
Reflecting on the year, we’ve seen great progress on delivering the infrastructure that sets us up for the future. New schools have been confirmed, major school upgrades delivered at Chatswood, a new local ambulance station confirmed, new public spaces delivered such as Wadanggari Park and the Artarmon local centre upgrade underway. The new Sydney Metro rail line is now only months from transforming how we move around. On our roads, tunnelling has recently commenced on the Western Harbour Tunnel and the Warringah Freeway Upgrade that will detangle the freeway and reduce the time we spend stuck in traffic. These are all legacies of the former Liberal government, and I will continue to work every day to ensure they are fully realised, and the state government continues to invest and deliver for our community.
The state government has cancelled the Beaches Link Tunnel and doing only a road network review, while now refusing to conduct any public consultation as part of that review. Our community should not be denied the opportunity to have our say. Roads throughout Willoughby remain clogged with traffic from the Northern Beaches and yet there’s now no plan, no resources, and no funding from the current government to deliver any improvements.
I welcome confirmation that the new Ambulance Station for our community announced by the previous government will be based on Falcon Street, North Sydney with the state having now purchased the PCYC site. At the same time, the PCYC is an important community asset, and I am calling on the PCYC to retain a presence in our local community with the proceeds from the sale of that site.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year and I hope you all have the opportunity to recuperate and connect with loved ones, friends, and family over the summer. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy festive season.
