What began as plans for a small letterbox drop turned into a large local meeting, as around 70 people from Linden, Woodford and Faulconbridge gathered on Sunday to rally against planned overhead flight paths.
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Linden resident Krista Forsstrom, one of the organisers behind the event, said it's about notifying nearby residents of how they may be affected by the Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) and its noise.
"We need to spread this information to our neighbours in Woodford and Faulconbridge, because they have every right to know what is happening in their community, and it's just all really difficult to understand for the majority of people," she said.
"It's all very confusing. The information's very convoluted... you've really got to actually do a lot of your own research, which most people don't have the time or capacity to do."
To help her neighbours overcome this hurdle, Ms Forsstrom has pored through the airport's Draft Environmental Impact Statement multiple times, and has helped collate relevant information into digestible diagrams and flyers.
Ms Forsstrom found plenty of information to impart, including that under one runway scenario Linden would have zero-to-one per cent respite from aircraft noise, as opposed to Blaxland's 34 per cent respite.
She said she was surprised to see such a strong and supportive turnout at the first Linden Residents letterbox drop.
"It was a really united, really lovely atmosphere of people just caring about their community and about their Blue Mountains," she said.
"People came with signs, and channels of the news came as well, and I did not anticipate that. It was actually intended to just be a little organisation.
"Which is fantastic, and really shows how motivated people are to actually get some stuff done for this."
For information about how the flight paths affect Linden, Woodford and Faulconbridge, or for help with a submission, visit: https://lindenresidents.com/.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for WSI Airport will be open to submissions from the public until January 31. Visit: https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/draft-environmental-impact-statement-western-sydney-international-nancy-bird-walton-airport.
"They have every right to know what is happening in their community."
- Krista Forsstrom
