As part of his public community meetings and discussing topics which are important to the residents of Serpentine Jarrahdale Federal Member for Canning Andrew Hastie held a meeting to talk about the proposed extension of the Armadale train line to Byford.
Mr Hastie met with shire president John Erren and Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor on July 24 to talk about the train line.
Mr Hastie said the recent census showed the shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale was the fastest growing in the country.
“The heat of that growth is in Byford,” he said.
“With the population growth our region is experiencing, I believe the project needs to be brought forward.”
Mr Hastie said he had previously sat down with Mr Taylor in Canberra and explained the situation to him.
“He wanted to come to Byford and to see it firsthand and discuss with stakeholders how the Commonwealth might be able to help,” he said.
Mr Taylor said the Federal Government has a great interest in investing in infrastructure, which wills support growth in housing.
“I firmly believe it’s the job of the government to make sure that infrastructure goes in ahead of or parallel with a housing development,” he said.
Shire president John Erren said Byford was currently isolated from Perth and the western suburbs with regard to public transport.
“Provision of a passenger rail service to Byford will allow people to use public transport and have the same options as the western suburbs, both north and south of Perth,” he said.
Mr Erren said discussions with federal ministers allowed decision makers to understand the current and future needs of the shire.
“The discussion impressed on the minister the importance of the provision of infrastructure and the pressure that our significant growth puts on this infrastructure to meet current and future community needs,” he said.
