Unanderra lifts miss out on budget money … again

In announcing the state budget would include $133 million for upgrades under the Transport Access Program, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian listed 11 stations that would benefit via upgrades.

Unanderra was not one of them – nor was any other station in the Illawarra.

READ MORE: A sign of what Unanderra station could have looked like

The stations being upgraded include North Strathfield, Kingswood, Hazelbrook, Wyee, Blayney and Mittagong.

“We are committed to making public transport accessible for customers with a disability, less mobile customers or customers using a pram and that is why this Budget includes funding to upgrade accessibility to at least 11 more stations across the State,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Unanderra Access Group’s Rebecca Schmidt-Lachlan was not surprised to see the station miss out again “because this government has shown they have no compassion or empathy”.

She repeated the group’s call for the government to supply some sort of time frame so the residents knew how much longer they would have to wait.

READ MORE: Station may have to wait two years for upgrade

Ms Schmidt-Lachlan said the group didn’t plan to let this setback stop them.

“It’s something we definitely need to keep in the public eye so they realise that we’re not going to go away, that we’re going to keep campaigning and keep fighting,” Ms Schmidt-Lachlan said.

Wollongong MP Paul Scully noted it was almost eight years since the government took away funding that had been allocated for Unanderra by Labor.

“It’s now very clear that a Liberal government will never build the Unanderra station lifts,” Mr Scully said.