MEDIA RELEASE - 23 MAY 2011

For most Australians, the name Kfarsghab may not yet be a household name. Yet their peoples are one of the very first waves of Lebanese migrants to call Australia home since the late 1800s. For almost 130 years, Kfarsghab descendants have lived in Parramatta and are one of the largest Lebanese-Australian and Maronite-Christian communities locally, and are exemplary Australians.

The attempt to rename a small part of “Amos Street” to “Kfarsghab Place” in Parramatta has failed. This is due to the refusal of support by the neighbouring Holroyd Council, despite Parramatta City Council’s unanimous and unequivocal support for this name change.

MEDIA RELEASE - 20 MAY 2011

Following months of lobbying, the new NSW Planning Minister, the Hon Brad Hazzard MP, has dumped Labor’s State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) for Affordable Rental Housing after 8 weeks in office.

MEDIA RELEASE - 12 APRIL 2011

With petrol prices heading towards $2 per litre, the race continues to find alternatives to fossil fuel based transportation. In September 2010, Parramatta City Council began dialogue with electric vehicle infrastructure providers in anticipation of the broader Australian take-up of electric vehicles.

“From a government perspective, where and how do we re-charge these electric vehicles? How will our homes and workplaces be built or retrofitted to be electric car ready? How and where will we re-charge them while on the road?” asked Clr Chiang Lim.

MEDIA RELEASE - 11 APRIL 2011

In response to growing concerns by the scientific research community about the Federal Treasury potentially cutting Australia’s medical research funding by $400m, Parramatta City Council resolved to publicly support its local research institutes, namely the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), the Kids’ Research Institute (KRI) and Westmead Millennium Institute (WMI).

MEDIA RELEASE - 14 FEBRUARY 2011

Valentine’s Day 2011 will be marked as the final death knell for the demolition and removal of any trace of Richie Benaud’s family home and history.

Although already having demolished Richie Benaud’s childhood family home in January 2011, Parramatta City Council considered on 14 February 2011 the proposal from the developer to construct a detached 2 storey dual occupancy development with Torrens title subdivision.