David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to have the opportunity this morning to talk about my recent visit to the Lucy Chieng Aged Care Centre in Hurstville. Lucy Chieng is a not-for-profit aged-care centre that is located in a very quiet spot in Hurstville in my electorate. It opened some four years ago and has 70 beds, offering respite care and a specialised dementia wing. It is one of the very few specialised Chinese aged-care facilities anywhere in the southern Sydney region. Indeed, the issue of culturally specific and culturally relevant aged care is a very important one in our city and across our nation, and the Lucy Chieng facility is a very good example of providing culturally specific aged care to senior Australians.

While I was there, I was given a tour of the facility by Ada Cheng, who is the CEO of the Australian Nursing Home Foundation, and members of the organisation's board, and I would like to congratulate the board for their very strong stewardship of the facility and their work in ensuring its success. Members of the board include Ellen Louie, Monica Chu, Mei Mei Tse, Andrew Gock and Bernard Tse, all of whom have done a terrific job in managing this centre.

The centre uses Mandarin, Cantonese, and English as appropriate in working with residents. It holds a range of cultural celebrations across the year, and celebrations for important Chinese holidays—not only Chinese New Year, but also the Moon Festival and other events throughout the year. It is a very modern and spacious centre, has a terrific outdoor garden area for residents to enjoy, and is very well located, because it is very close to the centre of Hurstville whilst being a very quiet spot. I do again congratulate the board of Lucy Chieng and all the staff on their success.

I also wanted to raise another matter of great concern in my community. This issue particularly concerns the people of Padstow in my electorate. At the moment, Deputy Speaker, the people of Padstow are confronted by the Bankstown City Council local area plan, or the Padstow plan as it is more broadly known. This plan is completely inappropriate and wrong for Padstow. Under this proposal more than 30 streets in the Padstow area would be rezoned so that buildings of between three and eight storeys would be allowed. This would really significantly change the character of Padstow. The proposal is very broad in its implications for the suburb and includes the capacity to build six-storey buildings directly across the road from the Padstow Park Primary School, which is completely inappropriate. It is a plan that needs to be revised and reviewed. That is why I say that the Padstow plan is just wrong for our area. Rezoning more than 30 streets to allow for buildings of between three and eight storeys will fundamentally change the character of Padstow forever. Hundreds of residents have supported my campaign to speak out against the Padstow plan. It is the wrong plan for our area, and I call on Bankstown City Council to tear up the Padstow plan and go back to the drawing board. It is very important that that occur, because what we do not want is a change to the village atmosphere of Padstow. It is a quiet place; it is a place where people enjoy a peaceful life. Putting a large number of high-rise buildings all around the suburb of Padstow, which would be allowed under this plan, is not the right approach, and I am strongly encouraging the council to reconsider this plan.'