ON Monday the 6th of March, myself, and The Post’s Publisher, Tina Brown, sat with Hornsby Independent candidate, Benjamin Caswell, to talk all things local.
Benjamin Caswell is born and bred in the Hornsby-Shire and has been closely following the pressing issues in the community.
“I love Hornsby, but it needs to have its voice heard,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin expressed how politicians should be for community first. By going into the State Government as an independent, Benjamin won’t be associated with any party, political or third-party – he is purely the voice of the community.
“It’s like I’m your employee,” Benjamin explained, “I’m here to help you guys”.
If elected, Benjamin’s top priorities will be to focus on education; more specifically vocational education and the high school age bracket to create more open avenues. He will also focus on key concerns surrounding housing, health, and energy.
We asked Benjamin how he would approach the ongoing issues surrounding St Ives High if he was elected; would he try to resolve these issues, more specifically advocate for improved transport to and from Hornsby for the 700 students in the area.
“Yes,” Benjamin said, “I propose more direct transport from St Ives High, not even just to Hornsby, but to the areas north of Hornsby such as Mount Colah and Mount Ku-ring-gai.”
Benjamin is also keen to push to add improved infrastructure to the area such as wombat crossings and refuge islands.
These infrastructure improvements also apply to areas in Waitara, like Burdett Street, and Galston Road in Hornsby. In these areas, school students’ safety is at high-risk with the constant flow of traffic and limited pathways to cross the roads safely.
An ongoing question on the minds of Hornsby-Shire residents has been, “why is there not a public, co-ed high school in the local government area?”
Benjamin has also been asking this question, and if elected, he has a proposal that doesn’t require the construction of a new school infrastructure and will have a limited impact on current students and their families.
Benjamin’s proposal is that the Asquith High Schools become two co-ed campuses. The girls campus would become a junior co-ed campus (years 7-9) and the boys campus would become a senior campus (years 10-12). With this transition, issues regarding the school’s infrastructure will be addressed. These issues include the infrastructure of the buildings, road safety around the school, and improved accessibility to Asquith train station for students and members of the public in the form of an overpass or underpass.
Benjamin also highlighted that the community has expressed their concerns on how the cost of living. Benjamin said, “statistics are showing that 70% of 18–25-year-olds won’t own a home in their lifetime”. He believes this statistic should be considered when looking at future masterplans for Hornsby as our future generations are vital in maintaining our workforce.
Benjamin mentioned this notion when discussing health, proposing the idea that there should be more incentives put in place to recruit healthcare workers. Assisting them in their cost of living would be an option.
There are more issues we discussed with Benjamin which can be found in the interview on TripleH 100.1 FM’s radio show, ‘Tune in with Tina’ that aired on Monday 6th of March.
Otherwise, Benjamin is regularly available to chat with various organised meet and greets, which he plans to continue doing if elected.
Benjamin concluded the interview by stating, “I love it here and we need better”.
Access the recording of our interview here: www.triplehfm.com.au/shows/tune-in-with-tina/
