Located within the North West Growth Area, planning for the Schofields Town Centre offers the opportunity to provide more new homes and businesses close to public transport.
Schofields Town Centre is on the North Shore, Northern, Western and Cumberland train lines. It also has access to frequent bus services to nearby Blacktown and Rouse Hill. It takes around 25 minutes to reach the Parramatta CBD by train from Schofields, making it highly suitable for the location of new homes and services.
Precincts – a new approach
In November 2019, the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces announced a new approach to precinct planning in NSW. In the case of Schofields, Blacktown Council is now leading planning for Schofields with the support of the Department of Planning and Environment.
Schofields Town Centre is proposed for investigation of place-based planning centred around an important transport node in Blacktown Council’s Local Strategic Planning Statement. Review by council and the department concluded a comprehensive plan for the centre is not likely to be practical given level of development approvals to date. Key opportunities instead are focussed on resolving the State transport infrastructure needs and open space.
What’s happened so far
We exhibited the planning package for Schofields and supporting studies to the community in 2011.
The department held an informal community drop-in session in 2017 to discuss the planning process and canvass community feedback and invited the community to take a survey (Place Score) about what they value about Schofields Town Centre and what they would like to see improve.
Please read the below documents for more information about the precinct:
What’s happening next
The department will work with Transport for NSW to release the results of the investigations to preserve a corridor for a future Metro extension, in consultation with Blacktown Council and landowners. Updated planning controls can only be identified when this corridor is determined.
Blacktown Council and the department will continue to work closely together on planning for Schofields Town Centre in line with council’s work program. When council’s review is complete and recommendations endorsed by councillors, further information will be made available for community consultation.