After the successful ‘A Taste of Wisemans festival held last September, it is exciting news that this event will be returning in 2025!
The event will be held on 28th September, with much community excitement building again. It is fantastic that we have found a way to include our rural residents in Council’s month long Orange Blossom Festival which first started in Castle Hill back in 1957 with a parade. The parade will be on again at Rouse Hill Town Centre.
Not long after I was elected last term, I was contacted by a resident in Sackville North. He told me that he had a number of issues that he wanted to raise on behalf of the community. I agreed to meet him. Upon arriving at Sackville North one Saturday morning, I was greeted by around thirty residents who had long standing concerns that they needed to raise with the hope of them being addressed. These ranged from street signs to potholes, speed limits to vegetation matters and the big one was the decline of Chapel Hill Rd.
I was taken on a tour of Sackville North and shown this road along with areas I had never been to before. Chapel Hill Road would have been an original horse and cart track up the hill and is aptly named this given that on this road there is a chapel and yes, it is on a hill. The chapel itself has an interesting history. That’s a story for another day.
The road was barely wide enough for a car, the edges were failing, the drainage blocked up, the trees overhanging and I was even told that over thirty years ago, a school bus went over the edge of the rock face and got stuck in the bush.
Then came the rain and floods of 2022. There are two roads that service the residents down along the river in this area. Pages Wharf Rd is the other and during the floods, this road was cut for many months as it fell into the river. This meant that the trusty Chapel Hill Rd was the only access for residents. Given the constant rain, the road rapidly declined with embankment failures, rock slides and pavement failures.
As soon as Pages Wharf Road was rebuilt, Council set about the significant job of designing the rebuild and stabilisation of Chapel Hill Rd. It wasn’t going to be cheap and a difficult project given the terrain. Through a number of state and federal disaster grants, we have been able to rebuild this road.
There was a lot of advocacy to ensure we got this road back to a state that was suitable and one that was ‘built back better’. The community held many meetings to discuss this road and provided me with their feedback on what was required, the history and the areas which are of concern during severe weather events.
After many years of pain and frustration, I can now finally say that Chapel Hill Road is complete!
I want to thank those residents who brought this to my attention over three years ago, and for your patience and advice over this time. Also to our Council staff and contractors who took the views onboard and have ensured the project has been completed to a high standard.
