Update from Regional Director – Ross Grove
2020 has been an unusual year for our industry and for Western Sydney, but it certainly hasn’t been without its share of wins:
- We have seen the creation of the Accelerated Infrastructure Fund, which kept construction activity the North West Growth Area going following the conclusion of the Local Infrastructure Growth Scheme.
- The Mamre Road employment precinct was finalised after years of Property Council advocacy. This unlocks a significant amount of valuable industrial land to the market, which boosts Western Sydney’s capacity to take advantage of the changing logistics trends in today’s economic climate.
- The Western Sydney Aerotropolis Plan has been finalised and we are in the process of responding to further government proposals around precinct planning and contributions.
- The Sydney Metro West EIS has been released and the project is being actively pursued by the NSW Government.
- Plans for the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport Line have been finalised by the state and Commonwealth Governments.
- The Parramatta CBD Planning Proposal was released for post-gateway exhibition, signaling the finalisation of years of discussion and deliberation regarding the heart of Sydney’s Central City.
In the coming year we are looking forward to seeing the Western Sydney Aerotropolis continuing to take shape, a refinement of our infrastructure contributions framework and a significant representation of parts of our industry in the coming economic recovery.
As always, if there’s something you’d like to place on our agenda please feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Ross Grove
Western Sydney Regional Director
Historic infrastructure program for Western Sydney in NSW Budget
The Property Council has welcomed the NSW Government’s ongoing commitment to transformative infrastructure in Western Sydney as part of the NSW 2020-21 Budget handed down by NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet.
In a media release, Property Council’s Western Sydney Regional Director has said, “This is a historic budget for Western Sydney.”
“Our region will be the subject of two live rail projects, construction of a light rail, an airport-ready highway network and the continued roll-out of an ambitious social and cultural infrastructure program across the region.
“Infrastructure like the Western Sydney Airport Metro, the Sydney Metro West and Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 unlocks new corridors of growth and enables the faster movement of more people across key destinations in our region.
“There is no doubt the Airport will deliver jobs and international connectivity for Western Sydney, but it’s the activation of land surrounding the airport that will really create a future for local jobs and investment.
“While much of the infrastructure spend relates to the construction of a new Western Sydney Aerotropolis, the government also deserves credit for also identifying more immediate projects with the potential to support regional growth such as the Prospect Highway Upgrade, upgrade of Mamre Road and place-based redevelopment of Airds, Bradbury and Claymore housing estates.
“We are also looking forward to continuing to unpack today’s announcement about the reform of development contributions. The Property Council has championed the creation of a Contributions Calculator so that industry has certainty and clarity around the cost of contributions, and it is pleasing to see this measure included in today’s budget.
“We know contributions reform continues to be a challenging task, and containing these costs is an important step in aiding any future economic recovery.”
New Aerotropolis plans welcomed, charges need further consideration
Property Council has welcomed the NSW Government’s exhibition of three packages of planning documents designed to further progress toward the development of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis.
A new Place-based Infrastructure Compact (PIC) has been developed to align the sequencing of development to the delivery of key regional infrastructure, a State Infrastructure Contribution has been drafted to support the funding of key infrastructure and detailed precinct plans have been prepared to help support the roll-out of development across the initial precincts of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis.
Western Sydney Regional Director, Ross Grove has said “We support the government’s vision of ensuring development in Western Sydney is well-planned and corresponds to the delivery of new infrastructure.”
“The government’s release of these documents provides our industry with more clarity around what to expect over the coming years and we look forward to refining these plans over the consultation period.
“We need to be mindful of the need to ensure taxes, levies and charges do not end up holding back the development and employment outcomes we all want to see.
“While interest in Western Sydney is strong, we need to support the region’s economic recovery with a balanced approach that considers the cumulative impact of all fees and charges, particularly the recently announced draft council contributions, which when combined with state contributions could make world class development in the Aerotropolis simply unaffordable.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the NSW Government and the Greater Sydney Commission on delivering a strong future for Western Sydney, where jobs and infrastructure support the growing population, with improvements to public amenity and wellbeing coinciding with new investment into the future.
“The Property Council has been a strong and positive contributor to the work to date and we look forward to continuing that partnership between industry and the government.”
The consultation documents can be found on the NSW Planning Portal and Greater Sydney Commission websites here.