What's different in Marsden Park
Still taking shape
NSW Planning puts Marsden Park North in the North West Growth Area, about 12 km from the Blacktown CBD. Its draft plan protects more than 80 hectares of conservation land and riparian corridors (the strips of land along creeks).
Water after storms
NSW Planning says the flood risk in Marsden Park North may be greater than previously known, and Blacktown City Council says the inquiry after the 2022 floods found housing inappropriate there. Wherever water lingers for about a week, mosquito eggs can finish developing.
Possums stay on the property
Blacktown City Council says it's an offence to use poison on a possum, and one caught in a ceiling has to be released on your own property, because it won't survive if moved elsewhere.
Snakes near the corridors
The council's advice for a snake is to contact NPWS, which may refer you to a local reptile expert. It isn't a pest business job.
A possum in a brand new roof
New homes aren't exempt. NSW Government guidance suggests watching at dusk to see where it leaves, and sprinkling flour near the gap to check the footprints are a possum's.
Close the gap only once you're sure it's out foraging, usually at night. Trapping takes a licence, so that part belongs to someone who holds one. Our guide to possums and the law goes through it.
Yours, and the technician's
You can
- Walk the yard after a storm and tip out anything holding water.
- Check downpipes aren't dumping water against the slab.
- Find the termite notice in your meter box.
- Note where a possum leaves the roof at dusk.
Leave to a pest business
- Proofing roof gaps, and catch and release under licence.
- Termite inspections at the frequency your notice recommends.
- Wasp nests in the ground or a wall cavity.
Where we'd start with pests in Marsden Park
After the next big storm, do one lap of the yard and empty whatever's holding water. If there's something in the roof, watch at dusk first, then tap it with your postcode so the business knows what they're coming to.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
