MECA - Harnony Day In Mount Druitt - Organisers Wanted - Great Work Experience - 'whyilovemountdruitt' Face Book Group

We have received an invitation from MECA Mount Druitt, requesting for organisers for Harmony Day Mount Druitt. Here it is:

Meca Mt Druitt

Yesterday at 9:47am · Mount Druitt

Are you super social? Do you like organising parties and events? Are you looking for ways to get amazing work experience? YES? Then we want YOU! MECA is putting together a team of young people from Western Sydney to organise a Harmony Day celebration in Mount Druitt. You’ll get experience with project management and have a $3000 budget! Interested? PM us or call Jocelyn on 96259300.


Click here for details on Meca Mount Druitt! 

IPART Media Release on Taxi Surveys - No Fare Increases 2016 - Was Mount Druitt Included?

The NSW Independent Pricing And Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has conducted a survey around Sydney on Taxi users indicates increase in patronage and they indicate there is no fare review in 2016.

My question is was community members from Mount Druitt invited to complete the surveys? Maybe, we will not know! Taxis are regularly used  by our wider Mount Druitt community, to reach destinations in quicker times rather than using buses. It also accommodates for customers luggage and shopping items, making it easier to reach to their point of destination, with less stress and in a more comfortable mood.

Click here for link to IPART Taxi Survey Media Release!

Blacktown City Council's Australia Day Firework Celebrations 2016 - The Best Year So Far!

How do I know this? Simply, it is researching You Tube videos that I could find with the longest time recorded at Rooty hill for Australia Day Fireworks celebration - stretching from 2011 until current.

Withe recordings I have published since 2013, I have added times as there are 1 to 3 part videos and start the timing from the first sparkling firework to the last:

The results show the following times:

2011 -  12.48 minutes

2013 -  12.25 minutes
2014 -  10.35 minutes
2015 -  12.75 minutes
2016 -  14.34 minutes

 I can not substantiate for years prior to 2013 but I have provide You tube videos with the longest record located at Rooty Hill and include all videos from 2006:

Rooty Hill Fireworks 2013-2016 6 videos

Rooty Hill Fireworks 2011 - 12.48 minutes

Rooty Hill Fireworks 2010 - 9.57 minutes

Rooty Hill Fireworks 2009 - 4.00 minutes

Rooty Hill Fireworks 2008 - 1.58 minutes

Rooty Hill Fireworks 2007 - 1.20 minutes

Rooty Hill Fireworks 2006  -  3.26 minutes


This confirms that Blacktown City Council is paying for worthwhile, better and longer entertaining fireworks. This year was best year so far I have been too and I'm sure I'm speaking on behalf of the Mount Druitt community. Keep up the good work!

If anyone has any Australia Day Firework videos at Rooty with longer video recordings for any year(s) please send a link of the You Tube video to myself at nsjpas@gmail.com.

Invitation To Business Owners in Mount Druitt - Western Sydney Business Forum 3/3/2016

Ray Williams (Left) & Premier Michael Baird (Right)

I have received an invitation today from the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier NSW for Western Sydney Ray Williams for any business within Western Sydney to attend a business forum.That businesses in and around Mount Druitt are included.

I hope that all our politicians in and around Mount Druitt: Federal, state and local, urge our local business to attend this meeting. So  that they can understand what plans the current NSW Government has for Western Sydney businesses. Government assistance is mostly what businesses are interested in and as it is "Q & A time", great opportunity to ask the right questions!

  Western Sydney

Business  Forum

DETAILS.

Gladys Berejiklian

Join Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier for Western Sydney, Ray Williams, as he hosts a Western Sydney business forum and Q&A with the Treasurer of NSW, the Hon Gladys Berejiklian.




Business will have the opportunity to discuss the Government's economic strategy and future opportunities for investment in Western Sydney.

RSVP.

EVENT DATE: 3 March, 2016
VENUE: Castle Hill RSL, 77 Castle St, Castle Hill
COST: FREE
TIME: 2:30 for 3 PM start
Q&A: 45 min (approx.)
RSVP: castlehill@parliament.nsw.gov.au with your name(s), business name, number of attendee(s) and business title(s).

As this is a free event, please RSVP ASAP to ensure your seat.

For further information, please contact my office on (02) 8882 9555 or at castlehill@parliament.nsw.gov.au.

We hope that businesses ar

Westfield Mount Druitt - Left Over Shade Cloths Still Hanging Around After Nearly 2 Year Storm Ago!

It is amazing that after nearly 2 years of  a storm that blew and ripped away shade cloths at Westfield, North Mount Druitt that the left over ones are still hanging around. The Westfield Maintenance Committee must be on strike or don't know how to remove them!

I know it is not a big issue - but it is a big issue if these cloths are left there - like the way they are currently are and left there for decades of display.

The issue is, it puts down the area especially if it left as a mess made by storms and there  is no importance to attend to the removing out part. If it is too high to reach get 'cherry pickers' to do the job. 

It appears they will not replace these with other shade cloths unless they are still waiting for the insurance claim to come through. It also appears that the high wires that supported the edges of the shade cloths are remaining - this in itself could be a danger to our community if there another storm that drops these wires down!

I wonder how long we have to wait this time unless it takes time to make small decisions and not to mention they look ugly by now! 

Click here for previous blog 

Video Camera's Required At Mount Druitt Bus Interchange!

How can we protected at Bus Interchanges, when there is no security patrols by guards and police in off peak times and at the same time there is video camera's destroyed?

Also who monitors these security cameras to ensure they are working. In other words who reviews these cameras and  is responsible or are they just placed there for fun?

I have written before on security at Mount Druitt Bus Interchange and this still continues! I hope that each stake holder takes action and checks, reviews and ensures these video cameras are working. I hope that they start from this one and replace it immediately!

Focus On Federal Election 2016 - Chifley Federal Seat!

Australians have the right to vote at any local, State and Federal Elections. This year there will be a Federal election this towards September and it is every single voters right to vote. Voters place their mark against the candidates name, who they would like to represent them and the people in the electorate.

It's funny how each tier of government fits in the jigsaw puzzle of electorates.  The major seat that covers Mount Druitt is Chifley a very safe Labor Party Seat, currently held by Ed Husic. 
Chifley seat sits comfortably between 2 swinging Federal seats of Greenway and Lindsay (East to West) and also Macquarie and Mcmahon from North to South.

Ed Husic Federal Member for Chifley

Ed Husic to me, is a modern politician that is up to date with social media and loves updating pictures of himself with members of the community,  informing the community what he is up to. He also, in his second term of Government, is becoming a prominent Labor Party Opposition Member that the Press do love to question and receive answers. I do think that he could be  hold a 'Top Ministerial Position' in years to come!  In 2013 Federal Election he won the seat on 2 party preferred at 60.55% of the vote compared to Liberal candidate Isabelle White with 39.45% of the vote - there was a minor 1.79% against Ed Husic - but that could be picked up at next election as he continues to build his profile!

Although the seat is nearly 47 years old,  the naming of the electoral is from a former Labor Prime Minister, Ben Chifley.

Click here for Wikipedia details on Ben Chifley 

Click here for Australian Electoral Commission details on Chifley Seat

In the modern day, it is difficult for anyone to be a politician as you could pronounce a policy as a Prime Minister that 90 percent of the population agree on and the 10% that disagree will influence 45 per cent of other voters to change their mind, giving them the upper hand majority. This is done via discussions in social media, local and wider media streams. There is a lot of pressure to keep your constituents happy.

Chifley had 94, 991 voters of which 12,690 voted informal. I do not like informal votes as they are a waste of paper and yet some people the intention of voting informal intentionally and also there is the unintentional ones as well.

I would like candidates running for the Federal seat of Chifley, capture the informal voters and make an effort to have them reduced substantially by explaining why it is so important to vote.

Unintentional votes are the ones that have gone in and left the ballot paper empty forgetting to make their vote or they have numbered but duplicated the same number on two or more candidates or they make a comment of who they vote for and didn't place their  numbered vote on the ballot paper!

So, as we focus on the oncoming year for the Federal Election, we again will ask candidates of  Chifley, as to 'whyilovemountdruit' their way and when the responses come through, we will publish them immediately, through the year!

We will also look at issue that affect the Federal Seat of Chifley and could change swinging or informal voters.
 





 

New Meacher Street Sign And Warning Sign Required!

Time and time again, we are constantly seeing the destruction via graffiti of road signs and street signs that need instant removal and replacement of. Defacing these is a criminal offense, from what I believe!

I'm not to sure if NSW Roads and Maritime Services does regular checks in our area as this is been like this for a few weeks. This is at the corner of Notley and Meacher Streets, Mount Druitt, we hope stake holders can attend to this immediately and make it a better place:

 Maybe, when they place the new signs up the fees/fines for defacing these signs should be added and displayed to the community! Just a thought!

Please if you see signs that need replacing email us with your name, suburb, where the street sign and provide a photo of it. We will then publish it for you and our community to give the great changes we need, making an improved Mount Druitt!

No NSW Local Council General Election This Year - Deferred To 17th March 2017!

NSW Government's policy review on Local Council Amalgamations does not affect Blacktown City Council and we are not amalgamating. Which is good that the NSW Government has not touched our local government area and that would be mainly due to our consistent population increase.

Check here for NSW Amalgamations for Councils

Looking at the brief amalgamations for Sydney Councils, it seems substantiated that I notice  both North Shore Councils  will be halved and the eastern suburbs will be taking from Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick Councils to merge as their population is some places 8/10- 9/10 smaller then our population in Blacktown.

We will see 43 Councils reduced to 25 councils in Sydney and regional councils from 109 to 87 Councils. Yes, there will be a cost-cutting initially once all the Councils are amalgamated. There will also be less strong Councillor representative from each Ward, should should mean each Councillor will have a larger responsibility of constituents to look after. This is where I think their wages should increase!

This is where we have to refresh our memory on what politicians get paid per voter. I did my own survey prior to last years state elections, variables would be different now, yet you can understand how politicians get paid (really not much). Although we complain they get paid a lot!

Click here for my survey on our paid politicians!

So that being that, the real news from this post is that the NSW Council General elections have been post-phoned until 17th March 2017.That means we are left this year with just a  Australian Federal General Election, later this year.

Aftermath From The Storm That We Recently Had In Mount Druitt/Rooty Hill

Well it has been just over 2-3 weeks since a wide storm raged in Mount Druitt, uprooted gum trees, leaving them to fall down by mothers nature way also pulling down power lines around Rooty Hill/Mount Druitt and Whalan areas. Some houses currently have tarps on their roofs waiting for roofs to be fixed by roof tilers, insurance claims to come through, fences and gates destroyed, ceiling at Westfield Mount Druitt fall and some houses are unlivable until the house is totally repaired.
 
In these times we are not looking for blame for cause, we are all attending to address the situation and replace the community back to where it was before the storm.


We have thanked all relevant services that has assisted so far and yet the job is not completely done but is in the process to be done. We note that Council is removing stumps off  the ground and filling up with soil and there are a few more stumps to do at William Mason Reserve, North Mount Druitt and there is a long stem branch lying horizontal above ground, which may be a hazard if people stupidly walk under it!

This is where a tree fell on the road and on the right side roof

This is apparently the second stage in cleaning the area and plans to replace the area where the tree was with other trees or grass and lastly wash to clean footpaths up. That is the last thing to be done!

This tree is lying as a potential hazard

Paths need cleaning

Click here for previous blog