Wollongong’s poor southern relations

Accusing Wollongong City Council of treating Windang residents like ‘second class citizens’, one local community member is hoping to save his hometown from further ‘needless development’.
Following on from what 40 year resident, Greg Hesse describes as ‘years of needless neglect’ in Windang, Mr Hesse has been further angered by the release of the draft Plan of Management for Judbooley Parade, the final piece of parkland that gives residents access to the water in Windang.
Claiming the draft POM is full of ‘anomalies, mistakes and omissions’, Mr Hesse is calling on Wollongong City Council to begin looking after it’s southern most residents.
“There is a very long history of Windang being the forgotten suburb in this area,” he said. “ The only things they have ever done for us down here are things that we don’t want. There is a continual history of council going ahead with projects without talking to local residents. They say this POM was developed through consultation with the community but I reckon most of the people down here dont know about it.
“They had about four hours of consultation and there is 2,500 people living here. No one knows anything about the preparation of this plan.”
Angered by the lack of community consultation, Mr Hesses also has concerns Judbooley Parade is about to be consumed by developers, with the new LEP zoning the land as tourism, allowing development to be undertaken on the site.
“Council and the Lake Illawarra Authority spent 40 years buying up property and demolishing it along here so there is space, now it sees they are going to build right through here, cutting off any public access to the Lake,” he said. “This comes on the back of council rezoning all of Windang as 2b in 1984 without our knowledge. We only found out in the early 90’s. People bought land thinking they wouldn’t be living next door to units and all of the sudden they can be.
“The roads and drainage systems around here are a joke and the lack of facilities is bewildering. They have taken all of the playground equipment without a plan to return it.”