Service to aged care

Matt Smolcic received an Order of Australia award (OAM) for service to aged welfare.

The Camden resident has a list of credits including:

Cardinal Stepinac Village Nursing Home – Chief Executive Officer, 1992-2019;

Liaised with state and federal government to purchase land and build an aged care residential service for 140 people, and;

Coordinated volunteers for fundraising and labour.

Church of St Nikola Tavelic:

Community Member, Construction Committee, 1980s,and;

Volunteer Fundraiser, Australia Day Appeal.

Australia Day Appeal Fundraising for:

Bush Fire Volunteer Brigades;

Fairfield, Liverpool, Campbelltown and Westmead Hospitals;

Nyngan Flood Victims;

Canberra Bush Fire;

Sydney Bush Fires;

Tsunami Appeal;

Surf Lifesaving Equipment;

Cabramatta and Fairfield Libraries;

Cancer Council of New South Wales, and;

Westmead Children's Hospital.

Liverpool Vaccination Hub open

The first lot of COVID-19 vaccine injections that started today, have been given to frontline health care workers who are at greatest risk of potential exposure to the virus.

The Pfizer vaccine is being distributed at the Liverpool Vaccination Hub – its first recipient was South Western Sydney Local Health District Director of Critical Care, Associate Professor Deepak Bhonagiri.

Throughout the pandemic, Prof Bhonagiri and his team have cared for critically ill COVID-19 patients in Liverpool Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

“We looked after very sick patients in the ICU. Naturally, despite using personal protective equipment, we worried about our staff catching the virus,” he said.

“Protecting our frontline workers so they can continue to safely care for the community is our first priority, but I also very much look forward to seeing vaccines rolled out across the country.”

To find out more about the COVID-19 vaccination in NSW, visit the NSW Health

Yellow line causes Appin residents to see red

Appin residents impacted by the Outer Sydney Orbital Stage 2 have until January 29 to lodge their submission concerning the controversial future arterial road (submission a few days after the closing date will also be considered).

Linda Seeney whose family have lived in the area for a number of generations, said Stage 2 of the road is flawed and would significantly impact Appin.

As identified by Transport for NSW the future transport link is between the Hume Motorway and Appin Road, east of Appin village -connecting new housing developments, and employment growth.

The community was presented with two road options online, but some residents believe the department is appearing to lean heavily towards the yellow option, which would go through many existing properties and destroy the heritage of the town.

“The fact is that the yellow option affects many, many households and families whereas the blue option does not,” MS Seeney said.

“The blue option is almost all developer owned land that is already cleared and slated for houses and roads.”

She believes more favourable criterions were included to the yellow option to make it more viable.

“I discovered that there is a flaw… as the heritage listing on the yellow option was completely overlooked.”

She said this could threaten the history of the area. The yellow option is proposed to go straight through the heritage listed buildings.

Her family has farmed in the area for more than a century and the yellow option could devastate their livelihood.

“Edward Lewis (my grandfather) owned the farm and my father Gordon Lewis has the oval named after him in Appin. We do not want to lose our Appin history.”

She said the yellow route also impacts many other residents that would be forced to lose their homes as it goes through ecologically sensitive lands, beside a koala corridor.

“The TransportNSW’s project team also acknowledged that they underestimated the criteria for community impact on the yellow option.”

This just added to the inconsistencies, Ms Seeney said.

“The initial findings for the yellow option only had two green ‘good’ performance criterions, but this was then changed to four green ‘good’ performance criterions to bring it into line with the blue option.

“There is not a reasonable explanation for this. A great deal of earthworks would be necessary to make the gradient comparable to the blue option. This would add to the overall cost of the yellow option.”

She added that moving freight on the yellow option would prove challenging as there are steep gradients – she said that criteria point was changed from “reasonable” to “good”.

“Transport for NSW has not followed its own protocols and affected residents were not informed prior to the release of the options on social media. The number of severely affected residents on the yellow option has also not been taken into consideration.”

The residents’ concerns have caught the attention of Wollondilly Council and Campbelltown Labor MP, Greg Warren.

Ms Seeney said “they are very supportive”.

A spokesperson for TransportNSW said both corridor options bypass the Appin township to connect to Appin Road, south of the village.

“Transport for NSW is engaging with landowners on the proposed route options to help identify a suitable option that minimises impacts to landowners wherever possible.”

Submissions can be sent to corridors@transport.nsw.gov.au