In the sprawling suburbs on the south-western edge of Sydney, the future seems to be veering down a path of car dependency for many young.
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00:00 For 17-year-old Madeline Phillips, there's only one way to get around.
00:06 This is the drive that I'll do every morning because I go to a gym down in Picton.
00:11 So there's no other way to get down there except for driving.
00:14 Living in the Wallandilly Shire, she feels lucky to have access to a car
00:18 and describes the area's diesel train service as flaky.
00:22 Sometimes it's delayed from freight trains.
00:25 I've had a personal experience with that where the train was delayed about an hour.
00:29 And she's not alone feeling the frustration.
00:32 I live in Wilton and there's three buses that come throughout the day, Monday to Friday,
00:36 and it's incredibly hard to get around and go to places.
00:39 With massive housing projects planned for the area, including 15,000 homes at Wilton
00:44 and 19,000 in Appen, the local population is expected to boom.
00:49 Transport in general is a real big concern and issue. It has been for years.
00:53 Wallandilly resident Ali Dench has made a submission to a parliamentary inquiry
00:57 saying the community is constrained by a lack of options.
01:01 There is a car-dependent community here and we've got people who don't speak up
01:05 because they see it just as the way of life.
01:07 She's urged the committee to consider the cost of not providing adequate services.
01:12 Access to safe and reliable public transport is not only a matter of convenience,
01:16 but it's also a crucial determinant of overall health and well-being.
01:21 It's a right as a citizen.
01:23 The plans for growth have many people concerned.
01:26 I think that they aren't considering young people and the impact that it's going to have on us at all,
01:31 and they're all kind of thinking about now and not in the future for us
01:35 when we're adults and we have to deal with it.
01:37 A plea for better planning from a generation that will feel it most.
01:40 it most.
01:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]