Your public parklands and your access to them are under threat.

The NSW Government is serving vested interests who seek to derive income for themselves at cost to the liberties you have enjoyed with public parklands such as Western Sydney Parklands, historic “Fernhill”, Centennial Park, Callan Park, Parramatta Park, Sydney Harbour Foreshores.

What was originally intended for these public places is being overturned.

In typical flow-on effect, this practice once well entrenched at the State level, will become the practice of your local government with respect to your precious local parks.

Whether it be individuals offering themselves to manage parklands for salary and selling off parkland areas to pay for their salary or whether it be entrepreneurs wanting to make money from being given or leasing parkland space to conduct a business venture there is one sure loser – you. Through this practice you will either or both have to pay for access to areas that were once yours for free or be denied access to what will become private areas which were once yours.

Another loser is the natural heritage and cultural heritage that might exist in those parkland areas as they are lost or modified to accommodate the aims of the privileged few.

This is a tragic statement on the order of government and society today. You don’t have open government. It is the domain of self interested carpetbagger cum bureaucrats, entrepreneurs, business interests and their collective lobbyists who have access to government chambers which you are denied.

In an effort to resist these sell-outs, an alliance of concerned citizens – from the sea to the mountains – have come together to form Alliance for Public Parklands.

Blacktown & District Environment Group Inc is now affiliated with this newly formed alliance.

We urge the public to also join. Go to https://alliance4parks.org learn what is happening and get involved to prevent this ‘theft’ of your land.