Castle Hill dodgy

MYER chief and Hills resident Bernie Brookes has apologised for comments attributed to him last week knocking the Hills. He spoke to the Hills Shire Times about media reports which quoted him as describing his own neighbourhood as a “low socio-economic area”.

“If Castle Hill is a ‘low socio-economic area’ then I must be living among the poor,” Mr Brookes said.

A resident of the Hills for 10 years, Mr Brookes said he issued a media release last week about Myer’s best performing stores. But he said he was “misquoted” about Castle Hill when he talked about stores which had posted strong sales results in the past quarter.

While he said the Castle Hill store had enjoyed strong sales results, he said he did not say it was in a low socio-economic area.

“The release then went on to state Blacktown in Sydney, Logan in Brisbane and Werribee in Melbourne – low socio-economic areas – performed very well,” he said. “I think the scribe must have bagged them all together,” he said.

“I know Castle Hill very well.

“In fact I enjoy my coffee at the Towers Shopping Centre every Saturday morning and it is my favourite place to shop on a weekend.

“I am also an avid reader of the Hills Shire Times and I will have an angry wife waiting for me at home to answer to regarding this I am sure.”

He said he had also received a few letters from angry Hills residents and had written back to them to clear up the misunderstanding. Mr Brookes first lived in Pennant Hills when he decided to call the Hills home and moved to Glenhaven before settling in Dural where he lives with his family.