ATTACHMENT 1

CL…….CITY DEVELOPMENT

Sydney Metropolitan Strategy

Parramatta’s Perspective

The Sydney Metropolitan Strategy was released by the NSW Government on 4 December 2005. The Strategy titled “City of Cities – a Plan for Sydney’s Future” is the State Government’s plan for managing the growth of Sydney for the next 25-30 years.

This overview is intended as a snapshot of the more salient points of the Metropolitan Strategy for Parramatta. The document may be accessed at the Department of Planning web site (

General

The Strategy plans for the accommodation of the following over a 25 year period:

  • 1.1 million population growth
  • 640,000 new homes
  • 500,000 new jobs
  • 7,500 ha of extra industrial land
  • 6.8 million square metres of additional commercial floor space, and
  • 3.7 million square metres of additional retail space.

The Strategy is divided into seven areas:

  • Economy and Employment
  • Centres and Corridors
  • Housing
  • Transport
  • Environment and Resources
  • Parks and Public Spaces
  • Implementation and Governance

The Strategy identifies Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool as the three regional cities outside the Global city of Sydney and North Sydney. In addition, there are various specialised centres that are identified. One of these is Westmead.

Parramatta

The Strategy divides Sydney into 11 sub regions which it defers to for much of the detailed planning identified in the Strategy. Parramatta is identified within the Central West sub region along with Bankstown, Auburn, Holroyd and Fairfield.

Centres and Corridors

Parramatta’s role as a second CBD is reinforced in the Strategy. It is highlighted as a success story of Sydney’s centres policy, however competition from business parks is identified as a challenge. The employment target for Parramatta CBD is 60,000 jobs by the year 2031. This is consistent with more recent projections carried out by consultants for Council (SGS Economics and Planning, 2005) and represents a slightly slower rate of growth than the ambitious targets identified in the Parramatta REP.

The Parramatta Road corridor is also identified as a renewal project with work to continue into 2006. It estimates that the corridor will accommodate around 63,000 new homes and 50,000 new jobs by 2030.

Housing

Approximately 60-70% of new housing will be provided in established areas like Parramatta, with the remainder accommodated in release areas on the edges of Sydney. The Strategy encourages new housing to be located in centres, villages and neighbourhood centres. The central west sub region will be required to deliver 95,000 new homes by 2031.

Apart from encouraging well located, well designed and more energy efficient homes, the Strategy identifies housing affordability as a significant component of the Housing section. Planning mechanisms that are described in the Strategy include negotiated developer agreements, density bonus schemes, inclusionary zoning and affordable housing standards in the draft LEP template yet to be finalised.

Transport

The major initiatives in the Strategy relating to transport lie in the North West and South West rail infrastructure projects. These are valued at about $8 billion. The other major transport initiative is the establishment of a network of strategic bus services under the Unsworth Plan. From a private transport perspective, the major public investment identified by the Strategy is the M7 motorway, which is to be opened shortly.

Other initiatives include facilitation of the railway clearways programme, improvement of integrated ticketing, improvement to local and regional walking and cycling networks, implementation of metropolitan wide parking policy and improvements in transport planning.

Environment

The Strategy sets out to pull together the various environmental targets already established through initiatives such as Action for Air. In addition, there are actions relating to the improvement of the health of waterways, flora and fauna and air quality. There are actions which seek to protect Aboriginal and cultural heritage, minimise noise levels and waste. The Plan seeks also to contain Sydney’s footprint, achieve sustainable use of water and energy efficiency.

Parks and Public Places

This section provides for access to regional open space for western Sydney through the establishment of the Western Sydney Parklands Trust. There are also general statements about improving local and regional open space systems and better connecting existing and future areas of open space.

Implementation and Governance

The Metropolitan Strategy is intended as an umbrella document that informs both local and regional planning as well as State investment priorities.

The most immediate issue for Council to consider is the sub regional planning that will deliver much of the detail that the wider Strategy is silent on. The five Councils in the Central West sub region have met once to discuss various preliminary issues. Those Council representatives have sought to ensure that Councillor involvement is included in sub regional planning. Councils have been advised that member Councils of each sub region will be briefed on this process. There are obvious issues that will need to be sorted out including the proportion of housing that each member Council agrees to accommodate from the sub regional total. Other matters that will need to be resolved include the roles of centres, framework for prioritisation of State infrastructure, employment capacity. The sub regional plans will be exhibited for public comment. Parramatta Council staff have been advised that this is expected to be conducted in mid 2006.

The Strategy is planned to be reviewed annually with a major review every 5 years.

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