April 2025 | ISSUE 49 | 31
www.greaterblacktownnews.com.au
The BCMP is a unique collaboration between Chifley College Bidwill Campus and the Blacktown News where students write and create a mainstream digital and print newspaper section that shares news about school life and the Bidwill local community. bidwill@accessnews.com.au
INSIDE: Swimming carnival makes some noise.
Edition 2 | April 2025 Online edition is hosted permanently at www.greaterblacktownnews.com.au
STORIES FROM BIDWILL SHOPS…
From desolation to thriving community BY MIZACHRO KOKO - YEAR 9
W
HEN I was a young child, I always thought of Bidwill shops as a ghost town. I had never remembered there being any shops there – at least none that lasted. I recently did some research into old news articles and found one from 2016 with the headline, ‘Hopes dashed as troubled shopping complex looks to stay shut’ (Daily Telegraph, 2016). It showed Federal MP, Ed Husic campaigning to get them open, after the issue was raised in a series of other articles about the area, but nothing positive looked likely to happen. I dug a little further to nd that many news reports, spanning back to the 90’s, have been written about attempts that have been made to open shops to service a community which has had a tumultuous history. Articles such as ‘Decline and fall of a local shopping centre’ (SMH, 1998), and ‘Bidwill residents describe life in a western Sydney suburb 'full of sad stories' (ABC, 2014) painted a bleak outlook of despair. There was even a report on ‘A Current A air’ where students from Chi ey College, Bidwill were interviewed front of the vacant building, lamenting the lack of a local shopping centre as the local pub did it’s best to provide the daily staples, milk, bread, eggs, to ll the void. However, Bidwill Square is no longer the abandoned tumbleweed town that it once was. Fast forward to 2025 and that history seems to have faded into the rearview, as Bidwill Square has become a thriving community hub, showcasing a productive, harmonious community atmosphere. I interviewed William and David who are barbers at Top Kuts, a shop that I notice always sems to be full of people, about their experiences at Bidwill Square: Who works here and how long have you been here at Bidwill? I’m William, the owner and we have Sam and David working here. We have been here for ve years. What is your impression of the people that come here? How do you see the Bidwill community? William: Lots of di erent types of people, Islanders, Aussies, and Aboriginals, it’s a very mixed community. David: The people who live here are great, very down to earth. We have plenty of regular customers and new ones all the time. Have you always wanted to be a barber? William: Yes, I have. After I nished school, I dropped out during year eleven and started doing barbering. I've been doing it for fourteen years now and love it. David: For me, it was mostly because of COVID. During that time I was cutting my dads and my little brothers hair and I just enjoyed it, so I’m really happy being a barber. What’s your favourite haircut? William: A skin fade, like what you get when you come into the shop, a skin fade at top. David: Mine’s probably a taper fade, like what I have, or mullets. We do a lot of those here, very popular.
Bidwill’s back: Top Kuts at Bidwill
What's the best part of your job? William: Everything, to be honest. I like chatting with the customers, hearing about their day. I just like talking to the to the people that come in here, that sort of thing. Someone's asking for my services, which is really good as well, choosing us over someone else, we must be doing something right. David: The best part is making people happy. Knowing that they like the service we provide, and we are happy when they want to come back. As well as the barber shop, the centre includes Palms Paci c, a nail and beauty salon, hair and skin salon, an electronics store, cafe, tobacconist, clothing shop plus Hibiscus Care disability and youth service. Two other spaces have construction underway, one of which is for the new Story Factory facility. I interviewed Year 11 Chi ey College Bidwill student, Brianne Loto, who works at Palms Paci c: What sorts of things do Palms Paci c sell, and what role do they play in our local community? Palms Paci c is a shop that specializes in Paci c Islander foods, three di erent foods. Hot, fresh, and frozen. We sell hot food at the back, frozen stu on the left side and then fresh stu all in the middle. We also import snacks from New Zealand and stu . I feel like that's really important for the community because if you look around Australia, there's not many, like, Paci c Islander shops around this area. And, for Sydney, this is one of our biggest achievements because it’s actually the biggest Paci c Islander shop in the entirety of Sydney. And as for what role it plays in the community, it gives almost, like, a safe haven for islanders to feel at home again, away from their country. You know? We have food that tastes like it's from home because it's
made with love. It's fresh every single day. We don't use MSG, or anything like that, because we want the best for our customers. That's fantastic. It sound sounds like you really get a sense of pride in working for a company like that. Would you say that’s true? 100 per cent true. I really do love my job, and even the people that I work with, I absolutely love the people. What are your goals for the future after you nish the HSC and how has your time at school helped you to achieve those goals? I am working at Palms Paci c three to four days per week at the moment just to rack up some money because after the HSC, I do want to continue my education in university because I want to be a marine biologist. One of the skills I do learn at school is de nitely social interaction. I didn't realise how bad I was at talking to people until I started my job there, but at school, because I'm constantly socialising and interacting with di erent types of people, I'm like, I'm getting ready for when I'm older, when I have to talk to people. When I have to engage and communicate in public. And I feel like communication is one of the biggest skills we learn here at school because it plays a role in your future relationships, your jobs, and literally every part of your life. Bidwill Square is now a story of success for our suburb. I know so many people who have lived in the area their whole lives, including teachers and other sta members at the school. No matter what the perception of our area has been in the past, Bidwill people have always wanted to come back, to give back to their community. It’s a special place which I can’t describe but anyone who has been a part of it knows what I mean about how much love is here. It also has shops.