Western Sydney gets a real deal
Western Sydney’s City Deal, announced on Sunday, is a “game changer” for Australia’s fourth largest economic region, and could mean 200,000 new jobs.
The first large-scale City Deal, announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, brings together eight local government areas and sets out a roadmap for growth and development across a large swathe of Western Sydney.
Announcing the agreement, Turnbull said the City Deal represented an “historic change” for Western Sydney.
“For the first time, working together, we are putting a plan and the infrastructure in place first. Isn’t that a good idea? Do the planning and the infrastructure and then do the development, makes sense doesn’t it? It hasn’t happened often enough. This is why this is such a big change.”
The City Deal promises to deliver a North South Rail Link from St Marys to the new Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis via the new Western Sydney Airport. Both governments have committed to having the rail line operating when the Western Sydney airport opens.
In addition, $100 million has been committed to progress a full business case for the remainder of the line. Corridors will be protected in the meantime.
The Aerotropolis will be kick-started with 114 hectares of Commonwealth-owned land at North Bringelly, which the prime minister says will “form the nucleus of a world-class precinct of knowledge intensive industry and learning”.
The Aerotropolis will “create tens of thousands of jobs in the aviation, aerospace and defence industries, jobs that will flow into other sectors such as education, agribusiness, health, hospitality and retail,” Turnbull explained.
Berejiklian later announced that retail giant Costco Wholesale will set up shop in the Aerotropolis, building a 14-hectare facility that creates 730 construction jobs and 210 operational jobs.
“The location of these jobs is also strategically important for our state,” Berejiklian said, as Costco’s new facility will be “only a stone’s throw away” from “a fully integrated economic precinct”.
The state and federal governments have also committed to an “investment attraction office”, a new planning regime that will “cut development costs and boost housing supply” and a $1 million Western Parkland City liveability program to deliver community facilities.
New STEM-focused education facilities will train skilled workers needed for the Aerotropolis, while a plan will be rolled out to “embed smart digital technology” throughout the region.
The Property Council’s executive director in NSW, Jane Fitzgerald, says the City Deal “demonstrates a fair dinkum commitment which, if implemented well, will improve transport, liveability, housing supply and long-term collaboration across Western Sydney”.
The City Deal predicts 200,000 jobs will be created, and Fitzgerald says the investment in rail for the region will not only service the new airport but also develop “orbital communities” which will be “critical to future housing supply”.
According to the Greater Sydney Commission, Sydney needs 725,000 additional homes between 2016 and 2036. Fitzgerald says accelerating the delivery of housing in nine local government areas will help the Commission achieve its targets.
The City Deal also provides industry with the confidence to invest. “A long-term agreement means all sectors know what government policy is coming over the horizon and can invest accordingly,” Fitzgerald adds.