Especially at major events, we secretly wonder why we still see women patiently queuing up outside of women’s toilets, yet men seem to zip in and out relatively quickly when using theirs. Equality of the sexes is one thing, but why should we be putting up with what is effectively an inequality of treatment in practice.

Under a proposal by Parramatta’s Deputy Lord Mayor Clr Chiang Lim to review the current Building Code of Australia’s rules, Parramatta City Council intends to rebalance this inequality by potentially increasing the minimum total size of future women’s toilets in public buildings. The targeted public buildings being major department stores, shopping centres, theatres and cinemas, auditoria, sports venues, theatres, art galleries, public halls, function rooms.

Parramatta has been synonymous with holding records for many things. Parramatta had Australia’s first observatory, the first land grant, the first farm and first pastoralists, first successful farm, the first  vineyard, first legal brewery, jail, orchard, tannery, horse race meeting, first road link to Sydney and the first ferry, the first Government House and the first Australian naval ship.

Without relying only on its colonial past, Parramatta hopes to make new records under a new proposal developed between Deputy Lord Mayor Clr Chiang Lim and the Parramatta Park Trust Director, Chris Levins.

Parramatta Advertiser, 17 March 2010

PARRAMATTA Lord Mayor Paul Garrard has been described as “cunning as a fox’’ by NSW Housing Minister David Borger in emails intended to be confidential. Mr Borger had sent emails to Labor councillor Mark Lack, suggesting that he and his fellow Labor councillors should be more critical of the Lord Mayor, particularly on the issue of lack of parking in Parramatta.

Parramatta Advertiser, 26 February 2010

THE ties between Parramatta and the Israeli city of Be’er Sheva extend beyond their relationship as sister cities.

The strong bond goes back to World War I when Australian light horsemen liberated the desert city from the Turks in 1917.

Parramatta Advertiser, 10 March 2010

FORGET the Opera House or Sydney Harbour Bridge - tourists need to see where it all began, according to Parramatta State Labor MP Tanya Gadiel as she launched the Discover Parramatta guidebooks on Thursday night.

The launch of the visitors' guide and dining guide followed a presentation of Parramatta Council's draft tourism strategy. It outlined a series of recommendations to be considered for implementation over the next five years.