TRISH DOYLE MP

Member for Blue Mountains

MARK GREENHILL OAM

Mayor Blue Mountains City Council

CONCERNS OVER INCREASED COVID RISK

FOR THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Member for Blue Mountains, Trish Doyle and Blue Mountains Mayor, Mark Greenhill have expressed grave concerns for the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in the local community, once restrictions have eased on Monday October 11.

With travel between Greater Sydney and regional NSW still off limits, it is expected that the Blue Mountains will see a sudden influx of visitors from Sydney as residents who’ve been under strict lockdown for three months, seek out easily accessible places they can travel to.

These concerns have been expressed in a letter sent to the newly elected Premier of NSW, Dominic Perrottet.

Mr Greenhill said, “When Sydney opens up, and because we are classed as “Greater Sydney” by the State Government, Trish and I are concerned that the Blue Mountains will get whacked with massive visitation that will bring crowding at key locations and that means risks.”

“Trish and I have written to the Premier asking what his plan is to keep our community safe and what resources he plans to divert here. We are concerned that present levels of resourcing won’t be enough,” said Mr Greenhill. “Our community has fought so hard to bring COVID cases in our region down and we don’t want to see a spike.”

Ms Doyle added, “It has been a long, difficult lockdown for many in our community and we are seriously concerned that if we open up without the proper protections in place, we’ll find ourselves going backwards.”

“We’ve fought hard for support for our local businesses, particularly those who are arts, hospitality and tourism based and have experienced a complete loss of income over the lockdown period. Needless to say, Mark and I very much welcome the opportunity for those business to re-open their doors and welcome much-needed visitors back to our region,” said Ms Doyle.

“Our concern though, if it’s not done right, the risk of infection in our community will be greatly elevated. Understandably, after such a long time in lockdown, everyone is desperate to move about freely again but we are worried that sensible measures

such as the continuation of social distancing and responsible behaviour may be disregarded,“ Ms Doyle said. “We need to know our local police are properly resourced so they can continue to support COVID safe behaviour in the Blue Mountains.”

DATE: THURSDAY 7 OCTOBER 2021