We're at the pointy end of a Bigger Australia and we love it

By Wendy Waller, Mayor of Liverpool.

This opinion piece originally appeared in The Australian Financial Review on 12 September 2018.

For decades Australians took particular pride in the spread of our cities. It might have been urban sprawl to some but it was our sprawl and it worked for us - at least it did as long as our cities grew incrementally rather than exponentially. We loved our backyards with space to spin a Hills Hoist Somewhere in the past 20 years that all changed. A succession of governments opened the doors ever wider to the world.

With no population policy - or any open discussion of the impact of growth on our everyday lives - a bigger Australia simply became a reality.

Now it seems the federal government finally wants to talk about population, but in 2018 the only questions left to resolve are how much bigger and how quickly we get there.

Liverpool, the key strategic centre in south-west Sydney, is embracing new Australians and new growth. We have been transformed by immigration. Walk down any street and you can see the world revealed in the faces you pass. Rather than a challenge, cultural diversity is our strength.

We're the fourth-oldest settlement in Australia and our strong community has absorbed the arriving thousands without significant stress.

The things that are stressful are not social but physical: they are the pinch points on our road network; trains that have got slower rather than faster; and packed schools. We are growing fast - and we're ready to keep on growing - but there are issues beyond the capacity of community or the Liverpool Council to resolve.

Immigration is great for our economy and has been wonderful for our community. Bedding down the thousands who arrive every year has kept the Australian economy ticking over.

Governments have been happy to bank the immigration bonus for decades.

But nothing that good can come without costs. I've seen our population more than double in the past 25 years to 216,000 and counting. But the roads have never kept up with the new residents wanting to use them; services languished and jobs and higher education remained locked in the city's east for too long.

In Liverpool we are growing by 100 new residents a week. Staying in front of this growth is a challenge in itself. But its not enough - we still need to catch up on decades of under-investment in infrastructure.

Thankfully, the signs are better than they've ever been. Western Sydney Airport is being built entirely within the Liverpool local government area. With it comes jobs and major infrastructure projects such as the North-South rail link and new roads.

Liverpool Hospital will benefit from a $740 million upgrade to anchor a health and education precinct Liverpool also signed a "City Deal" earlier this year with seven other councils and the NSW and federal governments to lay the foundations for Sydney's third metropolis, the Western Parklands City. It will be a 30-minute city linking the new Western Sydney Airport, its Aerotropolis and Liverpool.

Finally, governments are talking to communities like Liverpool and not just about us.

Council is doing its bit too. The bones of our city, laid down by Robert Hoddle in 1827 before he designed Melbourne's inner city, are ready to support a major evolution as we open up our CBD to inner-city residents through new zoning regulations to allow for mixed-use high-rise developments.

This will mean homes in walking distance of the major city campuses of Western Sydney University and the University of Wollongong. New residents will be able to walk to shops, childcare and services as well as a major train station and, if council gets its way, a rapid transit service will put the new airport within 20 minutes' reach.

Liverpool will invest more than $250 million over the next decade to support this growing city centre - Sydney's third CBD.

Australia smashed through the 25 million mark last month. Rapid population growth is our new reality. In Liverpool we are ready to do our bit but we need federal and state governments to back us - and our growing community-with the quality infrastructure we will require and deserve.

We see much of the rest of Sydney unwilling or unable to cope with the growing pains of population growth. So we say to those who will continue to seek a new home and life: you're welcome in Liverpool.

Wendy Waller is the Labor mayor of Liverpool.

Please note: This article originally appeared in the Australian Financial Review on 12 September 2018