A Sydney postcode with three active Covid cases is so divided some residents live under a curfew and a 5km travel limit while others are free to travel up to 57km from home.
Epping in the northern suburbs falls within Parramatta council, one of 12 local government areas of concern where lockdown rules are stricter.
Despite the 2121 postcode having just three active cases, Epping residents must abide by a 9pm to 5am curfew, stay within 5km of their home for exercise and avoid leaving their LGA unless they are providing an essential service.
On the other side of the M2 motorway, which runs beneath an oval, North Epping residents live under less strict rules, because this suburb is in the Hornsby Shire Council.
Being free to travel anywhere within their LGA, they can travel up to 57km away from home to Wisemans Ferry on the Hawkesbury River.
A Sydney postcode with three active Covid cases is so divided some residents live under a curfew and a 5km travel limit while others are free to travel up to 57km from home. Epping in the northern suburbs falls within Parramatta council, one of 12 local government areas of concern where lockdown rules are stricter
Unlike their neighbours in Epping, people living in North Epping can spend their day at a national park provided it’s within the Hornsby council boundaries.
That means they can go bushwalking in the Berowra Valley National Park to Galston Gorge or Crosslands Reserve, or a section of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park west of Bobbin Head.
But Epping, despite being in an upmarket area of northern Sydney, faces much stricter rules because it’s classified as belonging to a western Sydney council.
Residents can’t legally go bushwalking because they have to remain in their LGA for exercise and can’t venture more than 5km from home.
Parramatta councillor Lorraine Wearne, who represents the Epping ward, has called on the state government to impose restrictions on a suburb-by-suburb case instead of applying it to an entire council area.
‘It seems illogical to me to lock down a whole area the same and shape of Parramatta,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Nobody looks at a map and does a sensible assessment.
‘I understand in the pressure they’re under at the moment, they don’t have time for that but we’ve been in lockdown for some time.’
![Despite the 2121 postcode having just three active cases, Epping residents must abide by a 9pm to 5am curfew, stay within 5km of their home for exercise and avoid leaving their LGA unless they are providing an essential service (pictured is a stock image)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/06/04/47550753-9961111-image-a-17_1630897846132.jpg)
Despite the 2121 postcode having just three active cases, Epping residents must abide by a 9pm to 5am curfew, stay within 5km of their home for exercise and avoid leaving their LGA unless they are providing an essential service (pictured is a stock image)
![Parramatta councillor Lorraine Wearne, who represents the Epping ward, has called on the state government to impose restrictions on a suburb-by-suburb case instead of applying it to an entire council area](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/06/04/47550627-9961111-Parramatta_councillor_Lorraine_Wearne_who_represents_the_Epping_-m-21_1630897914979.jpg)
Parramatta councillor Lorraine Wearne, who represents the Epping ward, has called on the state government to impose restrictions on a suburb-by-suburb case instead of applying it to an entire council area
That model is already applied to Penrith in Sydney’s far west.
Ms Wearne, a former mayor, said the application of arbitrary restrictions to suburbs with few Covid cases were adversely affecting the mental health of elderly people who lived alone.
‘The mental health issues are a problem and the people I feel for, as much as anyone, is the people who live alone,’ she said.
‘A lot of people in this area are quite elderly, there are lots of single, elderly people.
‘They’re the people that we’ve got to worry about, people who are isolated who have become completely isolated and the families who are isolated.’
With the one-hour exercise limit now scrapped in the 12 LGAs of concern, New South Wales Labor leader Chris Minns is calling on Premier Gladys Berejiklian to scrap the curfew too.
‘Fully-vaccinated people need to get their freedoms back so we think the curfew should be lifted,’ he said.
‘It’s been in for two weeks, it’s not based on the health advice, it’s time for a change there.’
![On the other side of the M2 motorway, which runs underground beneath an oval, North Epping residents live under less strict rules, because this suburb is in the Hornsby Shire Council (pictured is the North Epping Bowling Club)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/06/04/47550629-9961111-image-a-18_1630897890083.jpg)
On the other side of the M2 motorway, which runs underground beneath an oval, North Epping residents live under less strict rules, because this suburb is in the Hornsby Shire Council (pictured is the North Epping Bowling Club)
Parramatta is more than 10km away from Epping, which demographically has more in common with the North Shore.
To make matters more confusing, Epping Boys High School is in the neighbouring suburb of Eastwood, which falls within Ryde council.
Epping Oval is in North Epping in the Hornsby council.
But to get out of North Epping by car, residents have no choice but to travel into Epping, within the hotspot Parramatta council.
The suburb is surrounded by bushland.
In this part of Sydney, three adjoining suburbs fall into three different council areas, highlighting the arbitrary and confusing nature of a public health order based on LGAs.
While Epping has just three active cases, neighbouring Carlingford has 64 cases.
But neighbouring Beecroft and Cheltenham, in the adjoining Hornsby council area, has 13 active cases.
NSW on Monday recorded 1,281 new cases and five deaths.
![With the one-hour exercise limit now scrapped in the 12 LGAs of concern, New South Wales Labor leader Chris Minns is calling on Premier Gladys Berejiklian to scrap the curfew too](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/06/04/47550635-9961111-image-a-22_1630897966191.jpg)
With the one-hour exercise limit now scrapped in the 12 LGAs of concern, New South Wales Labor leader Chris Minns is calling on Premier Gladys Berejiklian to scrap the curfew too
![To make matters more confusing, Epping Boys High School (pictured) is in the neighbouring suburb of Eastwood, which falls within Ryde council](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/06/04/47545199-9961111-To_make_matters_more_confusing_Epping_Boys_High_School_pictured_-a-7_1630898619915.jpg)
To make matters more confusing, Epping Boys High School (pictured) is in the neighbouring suburb of Eastwood, which falls within Ryde council