I speak about a new plan that has been tabled for consultation with the community called the Blacktown development control plan [DCP]. It is an opportunity to reset the policies for developers and future development, and let the public have their say in how they would like their CBD to look into the future. As the member for Riverstone is in the Chamber, I put on record that he has been advocating for the State Government to work with the council and the community in developing a DCP or master plan for the Riverstone area, which is a good way to progress.

Western Sydney has been developing at a fast pace and, unfortunately, the City of Blacktown—for whatever reason—has been left off, even though it is the fastest growing area. Everyone likes to give that title to themselves, but Blacktown is the fastest growing local government area in Australia. Some 12,000 people a year have consistently moved in over the past 10 years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Yet Liverpool, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Parramatta, Castle Hill and Penrith have all developed, and Blacktown has unfortunately been overlooked.

That, in itself, is probably an advantage. It is a disadvantage at the moment for people living in the area, but it is an advantage in that, given a brownfield site with a limited number of owners in certain areas, we have an opportunity to produce the city of the future. By 2035, Blacktown's population will exceed Tasmania's, but we do not have a Hobart or a Darwin to call home in the middle of Blacktown CBD. This is our opportunity to make a difference. Whether it is a night-time economy, live music or town squares, it is so important to get the people involved. What can make Blacktown different? Blacktown's 188 different nationalities and love for festivals are important aspects that should be incorporated, especially if we can wrap them into a CBD area.

I remember being on holidays in Bydgoszcz in Poland. There is a town square of about 100 metres by 110 metres. You can fit 10,000 to 12,000 people into the city centre for an exciting time. There is no CBD in the Sydney Basin that has that type of town square right in the middle of it. We could actually do that in Blacktown, with the major railway lines, bus routes et cetera that connect to it. Blacktown could be the festival capital of the Sydney Basin. Look at the success of the Ramadan festivals where, if people want to go anywhere near Lakemba, they need to park three suburbs away. Imagine building it in the Blacktown area, where there is plenty of potential parking onsite.

Unfortunately, council sold six acres—or 25,000 square metres—right in the middle of Blacktown to Walker Corporation, which wants to convert some of that area. It has put out a DCP that aims to convert Flushcombe Road, which is a major thoroughfare, into a pedestrian mall. They were exciting back in the 1980s. So many streets were converted into pedestrian malls right across Western Sydney, and most of them have been converted back into streets, including those in Blacktown and Penrith et cetera. But no traffic plan or supporting documents are supplied with the Blacktown City Council's DCP. It talks about parking that meets 25 per cent of the current needs.

Westpoint shopping centre, which covers 110,000 square metres—a pretty big shopping centre—currently has 4,600 car parking spaces. According to the proposed DCP, the maximum number of car parking spaces that an equivalent shopping centre will require is 1,400. The Walker proposal is $2.5 billion. It is about two to three times the size of the existing Westpoint, and yet it is going to have a quarter of the car parking spaces. The DCP actually talks about maximum car parking spaces. It does not have a minimum, so a new shopping centre could be brought into Blacktown with zero parking. This is the opportunity for the people of Blacktown to speak out. We want good, sustainable development. We need to have a proper thoroughfare. People have until Friday to put in their submissions. Let us get this deferred and have better public consultation.