How many levels of government does it take to fix a broken fence? Answer: all of them, and it will still take months for the work to begin.
Such is the case for a fence in Epping, which was badly damaged when it was hit by a car on March 15.
The fence just outside Epping railway station that has been broken for months.Credit: Jessica Hromas
The fence, which sits just outside Epping railway station on Langston Place, falls into what has been described as a “grey area”. The City of Parramatta, the local council, says it’s a matter for Transport for NSW, and Transport for NSW has told residents the fence is managed by the council.
Both want the fence to be fixed. Neither are willing to confirm ownership.
What has resulted is the fence remaining unchanged for three months.
The mangled section of the fence sits immediately next to another stretch of fence that was also badly damaged when a car hit it sometime before October 2024. Temporary hazard covering has been placed there ever since.
Liberal Monica Tudehope, the state member for Epping, began receiving complaints from fed-up residents in March, leading her to write to both the council and Transport for NSW to try and confirm once and for all just who the fence belonged to. She said neither of them claimed it.
“In some ways, this is like a real microcosm of why people don’t trust government and get frustrated, because you have two levels of government not taking responsibility, each pointing the finger at each other like that Spider-Man meme, and the fence just not getting fixed,” she said.
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