Campbelltown, NSW 2560

3.9(17 reviews)

Ranked 400th best suburb by locals in Sydney (Greater) Region, NSW

Great for

  • Public transport
  • Schools
  • Eating out
  • Parks and recreation
  • Gym and fitness

Not great for

  • Lack of traffic
  • Nightlife
  • Resale or rental value
  • Parking
  • Pest-free

Who lives here?

  • Families With Kids
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Retirees
  • Students

Reviews of Campbelltown, NSW

Editors Choice

"Dont judge a book by its cover!"

Campbelltown is the greater city to a large number of suburbs, many of them which are lovely and well looked after. Unfortunately there are a minority of suburbs that are undesirable, but in recent years the government have finally realised these developments were a disaster and are now trying to rectify the problems...basically knocking them down. Overall Campbelltown has a lot going for it. Compared to other areas Campbelltown has not yet become a concrete jungle and the community atmosphere is still alive with the annual Fisher's Ghost Festival. There are a number of shopping centres to choose from and on a good day you can get to the city in under an hour (ok, maybe not peak hour on the M5 car park). I do live in the area and sometimes cringe at the "yob" walking down the street, but I have seen just as bad, if not worse in more affluent areas. The schools are fine and there are lots of sporting clubs to get involved in. In recent years there has been an increase in housing for over 55's in the area. These houses are located close to amenities and public transport making it desirable for the ageing population. Although Campbelltown is not perfect, it offers great value for money. Not many areas you can get a 4br home for under 500k. Basically, don't judge a book by its cover.

Great for

  • Great value housing
  • Everything you need
  • Good infrastructure and shopping
  • People are mainly friendly
  • Public transport availability

Not great for

  • Media publicity gives area bad image
  • M5 traffic a disaster

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • LGBT+
  • Students
7
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9th January 2022

"Potential futuristic Suburb"

Been living here for 3yrs in a beautiful apartment block close to the station and had no issue so far. I work in the city so traveling in express train is no issue especially the seats are always empty. Good restaurants and malls around and some of them are open till late night. Great community with lovely resources. Would highly recommend young couples and professionals. Wont recommend for big families as it may be expensive.

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
1
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"Campbelltown my heart my home"

I was born and raised in Campbelltown and so grateful to have had a beautiful place here to grow up. I have seen so many changes over the last 43 years and there is still many landmarks that have not changed and remained well looked after. It has an interesting history and stories to read about that are still intriguing. Lots of things to do and see. My heart my home 💝

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
3
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"Everything's here!"

Campbelltown is both old AND new! Historic town buildings and also Cultural heritage! Large shopping centres and quiet Japanese gardens... and so much in between! Every possible sporting group for kids and adults, plus outdoor and indoor swimming centres! Nature walks and ghost tours! "Eat Street" Restaurants to enjoy with family and friends. Yearly fireworks for New Years Eve AND more fireworks at the annual street parade and carnival for the local 'Fishers Ghost Festival'! Less than an hour to Sydney Harbour. 30mins from the beach. One hour to the foot of the Blue Mountains... how central is that! Fantastic bus and train connections too! I recommend Campbelltown for families and all humans who are alive! So much to do and see and LOVE!

Who lives here?

  • Families with kids
3
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"My town I live in"

I have 3 children and my partner and myself have been living here for 3 years, overtime in a short time it's gone from the penthouse living style to the s###house if you know what I mean. The housing rental market for familes on a low income and over COVID lock downs have really suffered the most. The compassion from housing services whether it be with privately renting or government renting. In the last 1 year and half i have been told by so many close familes to me and my family that have been struggling to rent or even been evicted under poor decisions of tenant policy's. And I am also now am impacted by this in the last 6 months aswell.

Who lives here?

  • Families with kids
0
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Rentals in Campbelltown

"Great place to live overall"

Campbelltown is a big area. When I told people I lived in Campbelltown they would almost always say “where abouts?” Or “what suburb?”. No - Campbelltown Campbelltown was the response. Like 10 mins walk from the train station and pretty much central to anything. Plenty of of shops, shopping centres, home maker centres, restaurants, gyms and leisure activities, sports clubs, leagues clubs, RSL, you name it if you want it chances are its within 10 mins drive or less of Campbelltown. The area represents great value, and always has. Be careful which suburb or even street within suburb you choose as there are pockets of riff raff like most places but overall its great. 30 mins to Wollongong beach, 2 hrs to Canberra, under an hour to the city (hour and a half easy on the M5 during peak hour though).
Overall its been very good to me. Convenient and raised my young family there no issues for 10 years. If your a first home buyer get in, dive in head first you will do well.

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
2
Sri Prahalad
Sri Prahalad

Hi can you kindly let me know the pockets or roads to avoid, if I want to live there?

cindym17

dickens road in ambarvale the surburb claymore

Saniya Sal
Saniya Sal

I'd warby street and surrounding good pocket?

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"Great Town"

I lived there for about 10 years, and loved it! I actually miss it, i moved back to my home country due to a family member being sick to take care of them, but would reccomend campbelltown, you'll love it!

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
0
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"Moving out!"

Bought in Campbelltown five years ago. Have lived here for three.

Bought in the area as it was cheap and the only place I could afford at the time.

Pros
Lots of shops
My house is close to the train station

Cons
1.5 hour round trip each way into work. This limits my personal time and means I can't attend after hour events as I'll be home far too late. I don't think this is a good place to live for professionals who work long hours and want to make improvements in their career.

Lack of culture. There are no cultural centres that I know of except for the art centre. Events in the area seem to be aimed at kids or catching fish. Not my thing.

Lack of food choices. If you like franchise or takeaway, great. If you want something more special, there's not a lot here.

Bus service. I worked locally for a little while and as I don't have a car, I had to take the bus. Buses were late every day and it took around an hour to travel to work!

Council seems to want to knock down every tree and build apartments. Lots of cement everywhere, very hot.

People. I've tried hard to get to know people in the area, even inviting 10 couples/families over for a small get together (with free wine!) one evening. No one bothered to RSVP or turn up! There is a real lack of community in the area I live in.


Conclusion
I am moving closer to the city. The 3 hour train trip each day is killing me and there's nothing to keep me here.

0
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"Welcome to a new Campbelltown"

Campbelltown has definitely changed over the last 10 years. The parks are better, the place is safer with alot of friendly people. Everything you need is right at your doorstep. Landcom is also going to release land over there soon to make a new suburb which will make Campbelltown boom higher. Perfect place to grow up your kids.

Great for

  • Everything you need
  • Good infrastructure and shopping
  • People are mainly friendly
  • Public transport availability
  • Nice places to live with a varity of homes

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Tourists
  • LGBT+
  • Hipsters
  • Students
  • Country Lovers
  • Trendy & Stylish
1
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"It's a Smaller Sydney"

I grew up in Canberra and moving to Sydeny was a huge shock to the system! I have lived in Peakhurst (Near Hurstville) and Menai, and I liked both of these areas. However, when looking for investment properties to purchase, I discovered a suburb called Blair Athol, which I remembered had recieved some negative press in the past, but I decided to check it out anyway. I think this area of Campbelltown is a wonderful area, and we have since purchased an investment property, and are looking to possibly re-locate to either Blair Athol or Glen Alpine in the future. Sure the noise of the motorway could be a little annoying at times, but I lived next to transmission powerlines in Peakhust, and the airport was proctically in my back yard, so in comparison areas like Blair Athol definately get two thumbs up from me.

I must say the first time I ever visitied Campbelltown in 2006 I was shocked at some of the events I had witnessed. E.G I was abused in a car park and threatened, I saw police evrywhere I looked, and the city looked run-down and tired in general. In fact I was even abused by the receptionist at the hotel I stayed at (on arrival) and was instantly instilled with a negative image of Campbelltown.

However, when I returned in 2010 I noticed that things had started to change. Campbelltown citycentre and the macarthur square shopping centre areas are both fantastic now, and the streets have been re-vamped. I have not had any issues with anyone abusing me, nor have I witnessed any abuse on the streets. Also, I feel the people are very down to earth and this makes for a nice place to visist and to reside.

I think of Campbelltown as a small Sydney. Of course there are not so desirable areas coupled with more affluent areas, but this is the same for any city in Australia. Even in Canberra (which I believe to be relatively safe, clean, and which I think of as a great place to grow up), there are suburbs which residents do not feel are safe, and there are suburbs like Chisholm in the south and Charnwood in the north which new residents are warned to stay away from. I spent many years in the Chisholm area and I do not share this view. Whether or not it is ture what people say, it is up to individuals to make up their mind about which areas they like, and where they feel safe. It's the same wherever you go!

Great for

  • Everything you need
  • Good infrastructure and shopping
  • People are mainly friendly

Not great for

  • M5 traffic a disaster
  • Need better regular public transport
0
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"Not as bad as some of the surrounding areas"

Has a bustling city centre and isn't as bad as i thought

Good shopping and food options

Great for

  • Everything you need
  • Good infrastructure and shopping
  • Nice places to live with a varity of homes
  • People are mainly friendly
  • Public transport availability

Who lives here?

  • Families with kids
0
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"It really is a Shambletown"

I lived in the Campbelltown area as a teen and some of my family still live there. The town's "bad rap" is well founded! Although the infrastructure was good with excellent shopping, there was violence, crime and drug issues that are typical of low socio-economic areas in the Western suburbs of Sydney. Campbelltown has one of the highest (if not the highest) rates of car theft in Australia. Certain suburbs (eg. Bradbury) were known for ease of access to drugs. I remember a teen was raped in a local park, friends were "rolled" by teen thugs, bashed at the train station or Mawson Park, and local gang activity was rife. Public Schools were rife with violence and I changed to a private school due to being threatened with violence. Our house in Woodbine was burglarised. Although Woodbine is a nice suburb, it is unfortunately adjacent to Claymore (a welfare suburb filled with public housing, crime and poverty). Unless Campbelltown has somehow miraculously transformed in recent years (which I hear it hasn't), I would definitely not recommend it - that is unless you want to run a drug dealing business or car theft ring.

Great for

  • Good infrastructure and shopping
  • Public transport availability

Not great for

  • High crime rate
  • Drug issues
1
princess71

So where are you living now where there is no crime or drugs? I don't think it is any worse than most of Sydney, or any highly populated city for that matter, and some of the worst bullying incidents have happened in elite Sydney private schools.

JayC2

wow what a bitchfest lol I grew up in Campbelltown, live here now after living all around Sydney. Campbelltown is nothing like how you describe, and my car has only been broken into once, in Newtown lol

lavag

Have you been to mount druitt?

johng83

Blacktown and Mount Druitt are worst in Sydney (Check the crime stats and you will get facts). Campbelltown on the other hand is a great place to live.

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"Family and Future...all that you need."

I've been living here for 28 years and watched the city grow whilst we brought up our 2 kids. There are plenty of opportunities available for everyone. There are private and public schools, with nearby boarding schools well known and acknowledged by people in country areas who have sent their kids here. The University of Western Sydney has a campus along with Campbelltown TAFE supplying plenty of courses including trades, nursing, law and medicine.The local shopping at several shopping centers provides all of the retail therapy you need but parking can be a bit of a pain, as it is at most locations, in holiday times like Christmas and Easter otherwise it is generally ok. The peak hour traffic on the M5 is a disaster early morning and late afternoon and I expect most would use public transport if you could rely on it and have a seat. The carriages are normally full by the time the train is part way to the city for those who need to go there for work. There are plenty of sporting clubs as well as numerous golf clubs in the area. The kids can get involved in pretty much most sports if they want to. There's a 41/2 star hotel, RSL. Catholic Club which has been named NSW club of the year with the CUBE entertainment venue bringing the best acts to the area and award winning spa and fitness services. An 11 theater Events cinema as well a local cinema that only charges $6 for adults making it really affordable for families. There is a large public hospital as well as a new private hospital in a new contemporary facility. We are close to the F5 for travel and within an hour of Bowral and Mittagong to the south for a leisurely day out and an hour to Sydney. The south coast is easily accessible and about 45 minuites away to the beaches from Thirroul down further to Wollongong. Sydney airport is only a 45 minute drive down the freeway and M5 which is a breeze if you don't travel in peak hour. Despite media hype of antisocial behaviour reported out here, Im a former police officer and have worked in the area. I have worked in other areas as well and found the same problems everywhere you go. We have no problem living here and have brought our children up here. They both now work in the area and one has bought a house here. In fact a business associate of mine from Adelaide who travels regularly tells me of all the places he has been in NSW, he really doesn't like Sydney but could easily live here!!

Great for

  • Everything you need
  • People are mainly friendly
  • Nice places to live with a varity of homes

Not great for

  • Someltime seen with a bad rap that is unfounded
  • M5 traffic a disaster
  • Need better regular public transport

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Students
  • Country Lovers
2
Treesnleaves
Treesnleaves

Good review very informative well done.

KwongyBoy

Very helpful review as I am currently in the process of buying a property in Campbelltown. I agree every suburb has it's problems and it's great to hear the opinion from a former police officer who would have experienced the thick of it. Cheers!

catherinez2

I was terrified of moving to Campbelltown as Id heard the gut-wrenching stories and watched Channel 7 from mannerly places like Balmain, Jannali, Lisarow, Randwick, etc. And true to form, the first chilly nights of neighbourhood bliss were spent in a horrified state listening to a housewife screaming, while being bashed, followed by a heinous 3 am chook chaser leading armies of V8s and Harleys vibrating up the block. Hell yes - I wanted out ASAP! Oh, and lets not forget the charming, loutish, vandals who littered, muddled, piddled and yelled obscenities all the way up the street following nightly club closure in Queen Street.

Ten good years later an economic miracle unfolded! Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the entire clan of the Nazareens rose up and floated into Council. The Queen Street Disco suddenly closed - amen to that circus. Housing prices almost doubled in eleven years, reaching a stable level of affordability. The evil louts got older, wiser and moved out to Nimbin. (No offence to the fine, fake Russian Choir.) Quite suddenly, the land was transformed with radiant goodness when waves of wholesome folks from all corners of the globe descended upon god-forsaken Campbelltown. It literally evolved like a young, unbridled teen into a gloriously, mature debutant.

The streets morphed, the shops were upgraded, the attitude softened somewhat and money was poured into improving lifestyles of the moderate and not so famous. Boy it worked - its cleaner and greener than ever before! Archangel Scomo delivered with Jobkeeper and Jobseeker, prompting unparalleled happiness and contentment in the hearts and souls of yobbos - both near and far. Yes, theres a new paradise emerging like a Phoenix from the yobbo ashes, into a the gleaming, suburban horizon - and her name is Campbelltown. (If, by chance you see a yobbo it is a ghost of a reminder of days past...)

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"Campbelltown - In general a great town,"

I have lived in Campbelltown for the last 25 years and have always found that in general the area is great and the people are very friendly. I also do a lot of travelling around Sydney with work and look forward to coming home, it is a lot more relaxed that a lot of the other Sydney suburbs. There are plenty of parks, gardens and reserves. The location is great if you want to travel to the Wollongong Beaches (only 25min), Southern Highlands (only 40min) or even into the centre of Sydney for a day out. Shopping is fantastic with Macarthur Square, Campbelltown Mall, Brands On Sale factory outlet centre as well as many other smaller centres.

Who lives here?

  • Families with kids
2
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"a great family atmosphere with plenty of parks and amenities"

I have lived in the area for over 36 years, raised five children and work in the area.

Campbelltown has a great community spirit!

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
1
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"An affordable area with good facilities and plenty of community spirit"

Despite it's distance from the Sydney CBD (approx 50kms), and considerable negative publicity about rundown public housing estates, Campbelltown is, in general, a pleasant place to live. The city is well serviced by public transport, with train lines to the city and the southern highlands and bus services to Wollongong, Camden as well as local suburbs, although the buses do tend to be expensive and infrequent, and the trains now take longer to reach the city than they did 10 years ago before the opening of the Airport Line. Campbelltown has ample services including three hospitals (one public and two private) and plenty of doctors, medical centres and specialists. Council facilities such as lesiure centres, sports grounds and libraries are ample and well maintained. Campbelltown also has two newish, state of the art private gyms with pools - Aquafit and Fitness First. Macarthur Square, the main shopping centre, has recently been redeveloped with the addition of "Kellicar Lane", a plaza style entertainment precinct that includes restaurants, ten pin bowling and an Event movie cinema. However, apart from this precinct there's not much in the way of nightlife, and the main street of town (Queen St) is like a ghost town in the evenings and on Sundays with barely a coffee shop open.

Shopping centres are plentiful in Campbelltown with Campbelltown Mall, Campbelltown Marketfair, Macarthur Square, the recently opened Brands on Sale, as well as smaller plazas scattered throughout. There are also many homemaker stores such as Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Sleeping Giant etc along Blaxland Road. There is a great deal of community spirit with local fairs such as the annual Fisher's Ghost Festival and the Ingleburn Alive Festival attracting many participants, and locals are renowned for 'doing their bit' for a good cause, particularly if it benefits local people who are in need.

From a business perspective, Campbelltown provides significant job opportunities with industrial areas in Leumeah, Ingleburn, Minto and in nearby Smeaton Grange (Narellan).

On the down side, there are relatively high crime rates, particularly property crimes such as car theft and break and enters. There's also high rates of unemployment.

Overally though, Campbelltown is a pretty decent place to live alongside down to earth and caring people.

Who lives here?

  • Families with kids
2
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"Used to be decent, now down the hole."

Ten or fifteen years ago Campbelltown and its surrounding suburbs used to be an okay area, but come lately it has really gone to pot. People are rude and always cranky, and the youth of the area can often be derisive and mean to complete strangers. The area is dirty and full of serial graffitists who even go so far as to graffiti cars and houses, not just fences, shops and signs.

The area is noisy thanks to people abusing the use of subwoofer systems, de-muffled motorbikes and hoons racing on the roads all very late at night (we're talking 1-3am). I've not found a quiet area in Campbelltown yet. Break-ins and thefts are quite common, and after a certain time of the day it's safest to just stay in your home. Thankfully the police here are very responsive.

There are a few nice places to eat, such as Pancakes on the Rocks, Sizzler, Ribs & Rumps and some nice, clean chinese restaurants like The House of Bamboo.

At the end of the year there is the Festival of Fisher's Ghost, which used to be halfway decent but has since fallen a lot in quality; it seems it may be on the rise again but you don't want to live anywhere near the Bradbury oval if you're in any way sensitive to noise or would like to be able to actually park your car. It's a major disruption with the number of cars that clog the nearby residential streets, and the new carnival operators seem to have no sense of a respectable level of noise -- our whole family was forced to leave our home over both weekends by the sheer volume of noise coming from the park.
However if you're visiting for the carnival, or don't actually live near it, it can be fun.

The other downside is that despite the sheer number of cons to living in Campbelltown, housing has become quite unaffordable and prices are still swiftly on the rise. Local real estate officies can and will put rents up as soon as they can if you're not on a contract (twice in 5 months, for example).

Trains are reliable, if crowded, and the buses can sometimes be reliable, and crowded. There's no shortage of taxis, however.

1
MrPat

This review is hilarious to read because it is far from reality and I think the author complains regardless. Complaining about Fishers Ghost Festival that happens only once a year?? hahaha! Sorry to laugh but I also have to put up with that nuisance festival and all those rough looking kids, their hoon cars and youngster attitude all making all that evil happiness.

I have lived in Bradbury, Campbelltown, Eagle Vale, Raby, Eschol Park all within 23 years. I moved to Cronulla and then to Hurstville within another 4 years. Cronulla was nice, I surfed and worked there a lot and the riots were an excitement most wouldn't want in their neighbourhood. But I really missed the convenience, local natural beauty and easy living of Campbelltown. So I decided to move back and was blown away by how much it had changed even after 4 years of not living here. I decided to buy in Campbelltown because land and houses were ridiculously cheap and you have everything a stones throw away.

There is more traffic and that is a major inconvenience, but everywhere else it's the same. I am an active fighter against vandalism, I report grafitti and I find that Campbelltown isn't as bad with grafitti compared to other towns and cities. It's everywhere in the Sydney region.
Trains and buses are empty for me most of the time. They are always very difficult to get onto on the way back to Campbelltown but empty out quickly by the end.

I go running at night and in the morning and I take various routes. I never had any problems on the streets with other individuals, usually the opposite. The people in Campbelltown are down to earth realistic people who are very friendly compared to Sydney city people. Without my current neighbours, I wouldn't love my life as much as I do now. They are beautiful people that love to have a nice chat over the fence and (I know this does sound corny) trade vegetables from our gardens.
I'm having my first child this year and I can't imagine living in a better place to raise kids. It's quiet, convenient, cheap to live here and there is lots of great untapped opportunity here for business.

Campbelltown is my favourite suburban town!

KwongyBoy

Arva, I think you're living in the wrong suburb if you haven't moved already. It seems like you've gotten to a point where Campbelltown for you has just let you down. Unfortunately to live in the South West it's pretty much the same in all suburbs with the youth hooning around. From time to time you are gonna get problems. I don't understand the statement about trains being over crowded from Campbelltown because I catch it from Glenfield at the moment and always get a seat. Anyway I've got friends living around Campbelltown and haven't really heard a bad rap except for a couple of suburbs.

MrPat thanks for your comment, it helps to see different peoples opinion and as in every suburb there are always going to be unhappy and happy people, I think it's just everyones individual experience and unfortunately some people seem to have had it worst than others which can be misleading. From what I have seen it seems like Campbelltownn his its problems like other suburbs but one that is developing and booming! God willing I'm buying in the right part of Campbelltown.

justi

I have lived here for coming up to 30 years. Within a half hours WALK of my home there are two train stations, a public library, two major shopping centres and four suburban shopping centres, 9 Woolworths/Coles/Aldi/IGA stores, 4 Gyms (one voted the best in NSW), 2 Licensed Clubs, a Rydges Hotel, two picture theatres (One an IMAX/Gold), four pubs, a major public teaching hospital and next door a substantial private hospital, two indoor heated pools and one outdoor Olympic pool, three sports fields, substantial parkland, including a wetlands, close to 2 dozen restaurants, excluding coffee shops and takeaways, of Thai, Indian, Italian, Al a Carte, Chinese, Seafood, USA, Steak, Singaporean, Philippine, Vietnamese, Mexican, Japanese and Lebanese/Arabic food styles, an art gallery and a performing arts theatre. Because it is not an expensive place to live, I have paid off my mortgage on the same house twice and have no debt! I can go for a walk from my house, enter a grove of trees and listen to the Bellbirds, and see only the bush. Plus I am less than 10 minutes from my workplace. I rarely drive past the Costco store at the Crossroads, at Casula. Sydney, if I wanted to see Bejing, Beriut or Bangalore I would rather hop on a plane and go overseas than walk to Sydney (it's faster if you walk). How would I describe Campbelltown - easy living!

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