| |
|
|
Media Releases |
Media Release - Department of Planning Sydney: 5 March 2009 AMENDMENT TO ST MARYS REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN APPROVED The NSW Department of Planning today announced the approval of an amendment to a Sydney regional environmental plan (SREP) at St Marys that will support the creation of up to 3,000 jobs at the employment and residential precinct once complete.
The 1,545 hectare former ADI site had included 68.7 hectares of employment zone spread across three fragmented employment precincts, along with nearly 485 hectares of urban land and over 946 hectares of Regional Park and Open Space.
The amendment involves the consolidation of the employment zones into one precinct at the centre of the site and the establishment of better road access to this precinct, particularly from the nearby Dunheved Industrial estate.
The amendment is about rearranging the land uses on the site to optimise its utility, but will result in no increase in the developable area, no additional bushfire issues and the retention of all existing Regional Park.
The decision to consider the amendment originated from an Employment Development Strategy (EDS) prepared in 2003 which identified employment and business performance objectives for the site.
Following a review of the existing planning regime, it was found that the site’s employment and business performance objectives could be better achieved by developing a consolidated, rather than fragmented, employment precinct.
Some of the land earmarked for road access to this consolidated precinct lies below the maximum flood level. As a result, the amendment supports an extension of the land permitted to be filled to this level so that improved road access may be constructed.
Another important aspect of this amendment is that the 900 hectares of Cumberland Plain Woodlands set aside as Regional Park in the existing SREP has been retained, maintaining a balance between nature conservation and other planning considerations for this land.
The draft amendment was exhibited for a period of 42 days concurrently with the Penrith City Council’s exhibition of the draft Precinct Plan, which allowed relevant stakeholders to consider both and provide submissions accordingly.
In response to public feedback following exhibition, the requirement was imposed for any proposed works to be assessed against the Floodplain Development Manual so that any potential affect on flooding onsite is mitigated.
Media unit contact: Mark Skelsey (02) 9228 6275
|