Colbee Park in McGraths Hill is one of our most used, and most neglected sports fields. I should know, as a Soccer Dad whose child's club was based at the park for a decade.
Despite near constant use from sporting groups, the park suffers from limited parking, insufficient seating, has little shade, an open drain that cuts the park in two, and buildings so inadequate that sports clubs have had to use shipping containers to stow their club’s gear.
Hopefully, this can begin to change.

This morning I was invited to speak to Ray Hadley on Sydney Radio station 2GB about Planning Panels, and also about a concrete recycling plant at Ebenezer. Listen in to hear the interview...

This week the State Government placed the Draft Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan on exhibition for comment. This is a significant document for a number of reasons, and has some flaws which I've addressed in my own submission.

Most people expect governments to enforce laws against the exploitation of the vulnerable. In recent years, Australia has conducted a debate on religious freedoms. We live in an open, pluralist society. It is fundamental to our national character that freedoms of belief, association and expression are respected. But how do we deal with those who abuse the sense of purpose and hope that many find in faith, and use the cloak of religion to commit objectively evil acts?

The new Windsor bridge opened to traffic this weekend. This is a major milestone, and the project has dominated local politics for a decade. After so much Ill-feeling and unnecessary delay, I think this is a project the whole community should be proud of, and I say this as a local representative who felt very much caught in the middle by those passionately advocating for and against.

If Government is about ordering society, and societies are made of individuals, then their innate temperament, good or bad, are worth meditating on. Imagine electing people to high office who never think or write about that, or who couldn't articulate an opinion either way. Yes, imagine that...
Many moons ago, I read Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ and felt glum afterwards. People at heart are nasty, Golding said... (read more)

Some people's rates in Hawkesbury suburbs doubled (or worse) in 2017, and a new land valuation will give those people very little relief. You're right to be angry. The current Council delivered a quadruple-whammy to you by abolishing the Rural-Residential category, increasing land value as an input to the rating formula, spiking everyone's rates by 31%, all at a time of rampant land value property speculation, which appears to be continuing.

Today marks the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook's landing at Botany Bay.
It was the crowning achievement of an astonishing feat of navigation, and the greatest historically consequential event in a voyage of scientific and geographical discovery. It was the prelude to the birth of our nation. Today, I'm taking the time to reflect on this achievement.

The Gospers Mtn fire now holds the record as the largest fire in the world from a single ignition point. It had a perimeter 1380km long and was larger than 31 countries.
Here in the Hawkesbury, 540 rural property holders were impacted, with 65 homes destroyed, 30 homes damaged, plus 55 outbuildings. These events may have felt at times that they would overwhelm us. The victims of the fires have not been forgotten, and a range of initiatives are underway to respond to their needs.

Works to upgrade March Street in Richmond will cause the loss of many established Crepe Myrtle trees lining March Street. This has caused some understandable concern in the community. I've made it clear that these trees have value to the community and amenity of Richmond, and that they need to be replaced with mature specimens, not seedlings, if at all possible.

Council's meeting approved a motion I brought which sought an extension of the public consultation period about the Pitt Town Hindu Temple proposal, and directs Council's involvement in a public meeting which will go some way to addressing the community's concerns about it. I raised this after representations from members of the Pitt Town community, and the vote was a victory for common sense.

A number of residents have approached me about a development application which was lodged in late November for the construction of a $6.4M temple complex at 95 Old Pitt Town Road, Pitt Town. They expressed a range of concerns about the appropriateness of this development for this site, citing traffic, scale, noise, fire hazard and the effect on amenity. The development sits quite close to Scheyville National Park, as detailed in the Bushfire Assessment Report.