WESTLEIGH residents no longer need to worry about hundreds of daily truck movements through their quiet, residential streets after the State Government scrapped plans for an industrial compound.
Hornsby state Liberal MP Matt Kean announced on Monday afternoon the proposed Westleigh industrial compound to cater to the Epping to Thornleigh Third Track (ETTT) project has been abandoned.
Transport for NSW had originally planned to build the compound at the Sydney Water site at Quarter Sessions Rd.
It will now instead be moved to an alternative site at North Ryde.
"This is a big win for the community," Mr Kean said.
"A compound of this size was never going to be a good fit for the residents of Westleigh and was rightly abandoned by the Government."
The decision follows large-scale protests from residents and significant work behind the scenes from both Mr Kean and Hornsby mayor Steve Russell.
"After I was informed about this proposal I gathered together the Westleigh community leaders and set up a meeting with Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian," Mr Kean said.
"The minister listened to our concerns that this proposal was unacceptable to residents and presented some unique traffic and safety issues."
Rex Taylor, president of the Westleigh Progress Association, said the community was indebted to its local member.
"We're very excited because we doubted initially that we'd get this result," Mr Taylor said.
"It's our quiet little suburb and we want to keep it that way.
"We can't say enough about the good work Matt and Steve have done for us."
The Epping to Thornleigh Third Track is part of the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor Program, designed to take pressure off existing rail infrastructure.
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