NSW Labor sweeps across Blacktown

LABOR increased their margin across Blacktown City.

There are 6 populated NSW electorates across Blacktown City Local Government area and prior to the election there were 4 Labor and 2 Liberal seats.

As counting continues, Labor has secured Riverstone to have 5 Labor electorates to one Liberal.

Securing Riverstone for Labor with new member Warren Kirby has significantly contributed to Chris Minns Labor winning NSW Government for the first time in NSW in 12 years.

Across Blacktown City on a two-party preferred (2PP) margin, Labor secured 63.1% to the Liberals 36.9% resulting in Blacktown, Mt Druitt, Londonderry, Prospect and now Riverstone all being Labor seats with Winston Hills being the only Liberal seat.

Prue Carr, NSW Labor Deputy Leader and now Deputy Premier secured 70.8% 2PP vote across Marsden Park and Ropes Crossing.

Ms Carr said, “this is humbling to gain such strong support but it is also reflective of how the area has been neglected with a lack of services, schools and transport by the previous Liberal Government.”

Edmond Atalla retained Mt Druitt for Labor with a 72.9% 2PP vote and was able to achieve the Rooty Hill station and Mt Druitt police station upgrades. Improvements to schools, roads and services were his key priorities for the new Government.

Stephen Bali retained Blacktown for Labor with 69.4% 2PP vote and has been vocal on the lack of health, education and over development not being supported with appropriate services by the Liberal Government in the past 12 years.

Hugh McDermott retained Prospect for Labor with 62.6% 2PP vote from the residents of Blacktown City.

His electorate crosses a few local government areas. Mr McDermott with Stephen Bali (Blacktown) and Michelle Rowland (Federal Member for Greenway) have strongly advocated for the Prospect Highway upgrade over the past decade and were pleased that it is finally happening.

Warren Kirby secured almost a 10% swing to Labor winning the Riverstone State seat. Mr Kirby said: “this is one of the fastest growing population centres in NSW and infrastructure does not meet the demands and the failure to deliver a hospital for the Northwest has resulted in people losing trust in the Liberal Government.”

Mark Taylor held onto Winston Hills for the Liberal party despite a swing against him of 5%. The result in the Blacktown City portion of the electorate was 50.6% (2PP) which classifies his seat as one of the most marginal in the State.

$1M invested in pollutant traps

SYDNEY Water has committed to investing nearly $1M over the next 12 months to produce and install five additional Gross Pollutant Traps (GPTs), with the aim of safeguarding the city's flora and fauna.

These traps are located on storm drainage waterways and are responsible for collecting numerous plastic and other debris yearly.

Last year, a record-breaking 1500 cubic meters of waste were collected across Sydney's storm water networks by 75 traps situated throughout the city.

To put this in perspective, this is comparable to nearly 9,500 bathtubs of debris.

Sydney Water currently runs eight GPTs in the Blacktown area – one of the largest concentrations of GPTs in Sydney.

Sydney Water owns and manages about 450km of storm water channels spanning from Bondi in the east to Wentworthville in the west and Rouse Hill in the north.

Gross Pollutant Traps are specially designed structures that are strategically located to prevent debris from entering sensitive ecosystems.

Plastic, rubber balls, styrofoam, shopping trolleys, chairs, footwear, rubber tyres, and even car bumper bars are among the common types of waste caught.

The GPTs are positioned to protect areas with high wastage loads and sensitive ecosystems, including some of the city's most extensive coastal freshwater wetlands and critical endangered flora and fauna situated within them.

Sydney Water's GPT contractor recycles plastics where possible and processes organic matter for reuse as a gardening product after removing debris from the GPTs.

In the next few months, Sydney Water intends to introduce five more GPTs in various locations across the city. Three of these GPTs will be installed at the Parkside Drive Wetland site in Kogarah Bay, while the remaining two will be installed at the Milson Park Wetland site in Westmead.

According to Lorne Gurney, a Sydney Water Network Programs Scientist, Gross Pollutant Traps are incredibly beneficial in maintaining the cleanliness of our waterways. "The real benefit of this program is the environmental benefit. We see this as a tangible way to help ensure our wildlife in our wetlands continues to flourish. We all love healthy waterways," he said.