While Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Infrastructure Minister Deputy Warren Truss said the "talk is over" and the "final decision" had been made, debate on Sydney's second airport at Badgerys Creek is likely to continue for some time.

 

Their joint announcement on April 15, confirming the site 56 kilometres from the Sydney CBD, posed more questions than answers in a debate that has been raging, on and off, since the 1960s.

 

A prominent voice among proponents of the plan was former Parramatta lord mayor and state Labor MP David Borger, now a Western Sydney Airport Alliance spokesman, who said the decision was long overdue and would create jobs and raise living standards in western Sydney.

 

Paramatta Federal Labor MP Julie Owens said an airport with fully funded infrastructure could be a good thing for the people of western Sydney "if it's done right".

 

"We need to hear the details of planning and funding," she said.

 

"Adequate public transportation and roads in and out of the airport would need to be built to meet future capacity - not just what we think we'll need now.

 

"We need a train line to service the airport, including a direct line to allow the people in Parramatta and surrounds to access the airport.

 

"[There] needs to be enough funding to cover infrastructure costs.

 

"This is a chance to create significant economic activity for an area that has a growing population."

Parramatta State Liberal MP Geoff Lee said the airport would bring "economic stimulus of billions of dollars in western Sydney during the building phase".

 

"Overall, it is great news that the federal government has given the green-light to an airport in western Sydney after so many years of debate.

 

"Western Sydney is a $90 billion economic zone, the third largest in Australia, and home to one in 11 Australians.

 

"The time is right for its own airport.

 

"However without the benefit of knowing the timing, details and scope of the decision, it's too early to predict the economic and social impact and full benefits of the proposal.

 

"It is important that the federal government includes essential enabling infrastructure and doesn't just build an airport at Badgerys Creek.

 

"For the full economic and social benefit to be achieved for western Sydney, the road, rail, fuel lines and other critical infrastructure needs to be built to support the integration of the airport into western Sydney and its business and local communities.

"A fast train that stops at Parramatta, the capital of western Sydney undefined would ensure that Parramatta realises economic benefits from this airport.

"Similarly, the arterial roads need to connect into the state's future vision for our major highways."

Asked for his opinion on the Badgerys Creek announcement and what infrastructure would be needed to support the airport, Holroyd mayor Nasr Kafrouni said: "Council has a resolution which supports an airport at Badgerys Creek, subject to outcomes of environmental impacts and proposed specifications."

Source: The Hills News by Alison Mills and Vanessa Watson. Original article.