By Jesse Phillips, Sunday Telegraph, 22 May 2011

TWO councils are fighting over whether to rename part of a dead-end street in Parramatta after the Lebanese town of Kfarsghab. Parramatta Council wants to rename a small section of Amos St, Kfarsghab Place, after the Lebanese town named one of its streets Parramatta Rd. But Holroyd Council, with joint jurisdiction of the street, blocked the change.

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.

By Sean Nicholls, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 2011

THE Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, has called an immediate halt to new development applications made under a controversial policy designed to boost affordable housing for low- and middle-income-earners, and announced amendments to the scheme while a new policy is developed.

By Rhys Haynes, the Daily Telegraph, 16 May 2011

An alternative route for the $7 billion North West Rail Link has been rejected by the State Government, as federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese made it clear the Parramatta to Epping link should remain a priority. Parramatta Council proposed the North West line be diverted to Parramatta instead of Epping to save the State and Federal Governments up to $2 billion.