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Media Release - Minister's Office Sydney: 22 July 2009 PLANNING STARTS FOR NEW HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT LAND IN SYDNEY The NSW Government has started planning work for new potential housing and employment land in North West and South West Sydney. This will include a public exhibition process. Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, today announced the Government will start consulting councils about the next phase of planned land releases in the Growth Centres. “We are in the very early stages of planning for new housing and employment land in the Growth Centres,” Ms Keneally said. “This is part of the Government’s staged land release strategy to provide enough housing land to meet demand and keep homes affordable, and locate homes near where people will work. “Work will soon begin on land releases in Box Hill, Box Hill Industrial and Schofields precincts in the North West, and North Leppington and Austral precincts in the South West. “The Government will now start discussions with Hills Shire and Blacktown Councils about release of 1,400 hectares of land for new dwellings, and 200 hectares of employment land. “And we will start work with Liverpool and Camden Councils about release of 1,700 hectares of land for new houses. “The planning for release of these precincts follows consultation with Sydney Water, Integral Energy, the RTA, Ministry of Transport, and other State Government agencies. “This work, already undertaken, will speed up future planning approvals, and set into action plans for major infrastructure provision which will be required.” Ms Keneally said that includes: • Water infrastructure, including upgrade of sewage treatment facilities; • Road infrastructure, including investing in Camden Valley Way; and • Other infrastructure, including schools, police, justice, health and emergency services. Ms Keneally said that since 2005, around 40,000 lots have been released in the Growth Centres with nearly 20,000 lots already rezoned. “Titles were issued for 97 residential lots in May 2009 in the Colebee Precinct in the North West. Development Applications have also been lodged for residential subdivisions at Oran Park and Turner Road Precincts in the South West,” Ms Keneally said. “Work is also underway on the Oran Park Town Centre and the Government has negotiated works in kind agreements for the Oran Park Link Road to be built and funded upfront by developers.” Ms Keneally said given the focus on providing homes close to infrastructure and jobs, investigations will cease into a proposed housing release in Macarthur South, 25 kilometres south of Campbelltown.
Macarthur South, if allowed to fully develop, would have seen up to 62,000 houses built in an area of about 17,000 hectares. The area is about the same size as the South West Growth Centre. ”The decision to stop investigating Macarthur South was based on factors including housing needs, infrastructure costs and the value of resources in the area,” Ms Keneally said. “We are already planning sufficient land supplies in the South West Growth Centre to meet housing needs in the area for the next 25 years. “Investigations by the NSW Government show development of Macarthur South is unviable at this time, with potential infrastructure costs of more than $100,000 per lot to service an extra 90,000 people. “Infrastructure costs alone for water supply and sewerage, roads, education and transport services, which would be needed for the full Macarthur South proposal, would run into the billions of dollars. “The Government previously said we would investigate the Macarthur South proposal, then put a discussion paper on public exhibition to gauge community and stakeholder opinion. “However after further consideration, we’ve identified the infrastructure required would be prohibitively expensive to provide services for land we don’t yet need. “The Government is instead focussing on delivering land to meet demand in the South West Growth Centres, and delivering infrastructure to support that such as the South West Rail Line. “We have allocated $804 million this year for stage 1 of the South West Rail Line. “This project will allow for increased and more reliable train services through the construction of a rail flyover north of Glenfield Station, as well as additional signalling works, new systems and new track.” Ms Keneally said this decision does not impact on the Mt Gilead release area, which is already included in the Metropolitan Development Program (MDP) and is yet to be rezoned. Consideration of land release proposals for other relatively smaller areas within Macarthur South may be given if they meet the Government’s requirements, particularly regarding infrastructure provision. These sites would require a thorough rezoning investigation.
Important statement about political donations New donation disclosure laws came into effect on 1 October 2008. More information is available from http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/assessingdev/donations.asp.
Investigations into Macarthur South occurred prior to the introduction of new donation disclosure laws and the establishment of the Planning Assessment Commission. The Election Funding Authority website, www.efa.nsw.gov.au, shows that the major landowners in the Macarthur South area, including MacroPlan, Walker Corporation, Bradcorp / Delfin Lend Lease, and Australand have made donations to political parties, including the Labor Party, in the period up until February 2008.
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