West Lakes Duck Pond

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (15:25): I rise to raise an important issue in my electorate, an important issue in particular in West Lakes in my electorate and that is the issue of the freshwater lake, known by some people as the duck pond. This issue first arose late last year. Inexplicably, the council, the City of Charles Sturt, approached the community advising that they were going to consult with the community on a range of options for the future of the freshwater lake.

Nobody is against the council talking with the community about the freshwater lake, but what alarmed members of the community, particularly people living on Delfin Island, were a couple of the proposed options put to the community by the council, including filling in or repurposing the lake from its current use. The result was outrage from affected residents.

For those members who are not quite as familiar with this part of West Lakes as some, Delfin Island is a key part of the West Lakes development, delivered from the 1970s onwards. It houses approximately 2,000 residents and the freshwater lake system was built into the design from day one to provide amenity as well as a sanctuary for local wildlife.

It has been enjoyed by members of the community for some 50 years. I have had people contact me not just about the day-to-day enjoyment they get from the area, taking a walk around the freshwater lake or sitting down and having a picnic, but about the fact that there have been, I am advised, marriage proposals, weddings and other significant family events held there. Understandably, with that in mind, this is a really important part of the local community.

As soon as I found out about this issue, I sent a petition out to my community asking for their feedback on what they thought of the council's proposals. We walked out a survey, hand delivered into letterboxes, across one day and before the end of that day I had more than 50 responses to that survey, such was the feeling from the community about what the council was looking at.

Over the course of December, January and February in the lead-up to the recent state election, the community got themselves organised. It was not something that the local member or councillors had to corral together; this was a genuine example of the community being driven to take their own action.

I would particularly like to take the time to pay credit to Paul Paparella and Robyn Haworth for their extraordinary efforts in mobilising the community. Shortly after the state election, in fact I think it was the following weekend, I attended a rally with prominent West Lakes resident Gary Johansson as well as Paul and Robyn to address the local community about the importance of the freshwater lake.

It was a warm day—about 30⁰—and more than 300 people turned out for this rally. The sentiment was unanimous: they did not want the council doing anything to interfere with the future of the lake. Everybody is up for improvements to amenity, and everybody is up for periodic maintenance if the lake has to be drained, cleaned, restored and returned back to its original condition. Everybody is in favour of that, but what the community would not abide was the council taking any action to fill in the lake or to reduce its size. It seemed obvious to members of the community—and, I have to say, it was my suspicion as well—that the council was talking in these terms to the community merely because they wanted to reduce their ongoing maintenance expenditure on this lake.

I am really pleased to say that only in recent weeks the council has now taken off the table those two options to either fill in the lake or to reduce its size. This is a win for the local community. It is not something that I can take credit for because, as I said, this was community mobilisation driven by their own efforts, of their own volition, and they have sent a clear, resounding message to the council that this will not be accommodated by the community.

The council has taken those options off the table, and we are now back to a genuine conversation about how the council can meet its obligations in maintaining this lake into the future and also what improvements to amenity and other facilities can be imposed in this local area. Congratulations to the community of West Lakes for this win.