Pressure on universities

More than 400 doctors, medical researchers and scientists have formed a powerful lobby group, Friends of Science in Medicine, to pressure universities, such as the University of Western Sydney, to close down alternative medical degrees for “what in many cases would be better described as ‘quackery’ and by ‘failing to champion evidence-based science and medicine’.

Richmond. Spillover airport

The federal government’s review into the location of the second airport for Sydney is expected to be released soon. The Sydney Morning Herald said “it is understood it will shy away from a making a definitive statement ... instead it is more likely to recommend using a Royal Australian Air Force base at Richmond as a spillover airport for some domestic flights and then nominate several long-term opinions for a second site.”

The Hills. Need for graduate school

The Hills Shire Council is calling on residents to have their say on establishing a graduate school of management in The Sydney Hills. Council has been working in conjunction with local business leaders to investigate the potential demand for a graduate school in the Norwest area by calling on as many people as possible fill in an online survey to determine the capacity for a new higher educational facility and the degree qualifications it should offer.

Council said this would not only be a major coup for Norwest Business Park and The Sydney Hills but an opportunity for local residents to undertake postgraduate studies close to home and work. With an estimated 100,000 new residents coming to the region in the next 20 years, planning for our future needs makes good sense. The survey can be accessed at https://www.research.net/s/norwestuniversity and only takes two minutes to complete.

Liverpool. Inghams is a winner

Inghams Enterprises, in Liverpool, won the Best Workplace Health and Safety Management System category, in WorkCover’s SafetyWork Awards 2011. Inghams, a household name in food, particularly poultry, employees 2300 people and deals with more than 250 contractors in NSW. Over the past three years, Inghams has achieved a five per cent reduction in claims, a 38 per cent reduction in the number of incidents and a 35 per cent reduction in lost time injuries.

Region. New member on council

Professor Janice Reid, vice-chancellor and president, of University of Western Sydney, and convenor of NSW vice chancellors' committee, has been appointed a member of the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council. The council provides expertise across a wide spectrum including academia, economics and finance, creative industries, science, ICT, robotics, and the community and government sectors.

Parramatta. Banking job losses

Job losses in the Australia banking sector are likely to stymie the growth prospects of listed office landlords in the coming years, UBS analysts predict. The Commonwealth Property Office Fund is the most exposed to bank job losses, with 10.4 per cent of its portfolio leased to the Commonswealth Bank of Australia, and leases expiring in Melbourne and Parramatta in 2014 and 2015, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Rosehill. Application approved

Parramatta City Council has approved an application for the construction of a digital screen to display races and betting information at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse. The screen will have a height of two metres and surface width of 440 square metres.

Region. University offers

The University of Western Sydney is making 11,334 offers to prospective students this year - the largest number of university offers of any university in NSW and ACT.Large numbers of offers are being made across the university’s programs, with many of the popular course trends in 2012 linked to workforce demand, national skills shortages and emerging career opportunities. UWS experienced an overall increase in first preferences of 2.5 per cent this year. Demand has been particularly strong among school leavers, with a 4.8 per cent increase.

Westmead. Professor at Stanford - again

Stanford University, in the USA, has invited Professor Lea Williams, director, of the Brain Dynamics Centre, at the Westmead Millennium Institute, to return for a second year as a visiting professional scholar. The position is exceptionally prestigious, as Stanford is one of the top three universities in the world. Few are accepted for even one year, and even fewer are asked to return for a second year, the institute said.Professor Williams is focusing on the iSPOT-D study looking at how to improve treatment for depression. Brain Dynamics Centre and Stanford are collaborating sites in the study.

Region. Lack of business voice

A submission to the NSW Government’s Professional Services Industry Action Plan by the Parramatta-based RDA Sydney, said concerns in the consultation process were raised about the lack of a unified business voice for Western Sydney.

Although there are a number of small chambers of commerce, it was felt that there was a need for a coordinating body to get partners together to work on strategic local economic development drivers, the submission said.

RDA Sydney is one of 55 voluntary committees across Australia working in partnership with federal, state and local governments to strengthen regional communities.

Wetherill Park. Creative people needed

Stockland Wetherill Park has called for expressions of interest from local creative people, social enterprises and community organisations to share their ideas for a new cultural creative community space at the centre. Stockland has joined forces with Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE), based in Parramatta, and The Lot and want to hear from individuals and groups who are interested in being part of this space as users, participants or managers.

Penrith. Hospital expansion

The $87.1 million East Block, at Nepean Hospital, Penrith, is expected to open on February 20. It will house six new operating theatres, an ambulatory procedures centre, two new 30-bed wards, and extra day-only beds. There will also be a 12-bed intensive care pod, including five more intensive care unit beds and more renal dialysis beds The East Block construction is part of the $137.8 million campus redevelopment, which will also feature a $40 million mental health unit and a multi-storey, 650-space carpark.

Region. Sheedy on apprenticeships

Greater Western Sydney Giants coach, Kevin Sheedy, wants more people to take up apprenticeships and stick out the journey to gaining their qualification, especially in Western Sydney. Mr Sheedy, a qualified plumber, is one of five apprenticeship ambassadors who will work with the Gillard government and industry groups to promote Australian apprenticeships.

Penrith. Online forum

An online forum is available to Penrith rural landholders to share ideas, discuss problems and explore opportunities to help farmers grow and sell their produce locally. Penrith Council environmental health co-ordinator Anthony Price said the idea came from workshops with rural landholders.

Sydney Olympic Park. Residents move in

The completion of the 16-storey Tower B in Australia Towers Stage 1, in Sydney Olympic Park, will see the arrival of some of the 150-200 residents. The 24-storey Tower A will be completed in February with an estimated 250-300 residents in 140 apartments.

Penrith, Indoor skydiving

Raybal Building Services, of West Gosford, has lodged a development application with Penrith City Council to build an indoor skydiving centre adjacent to Penrith Panthers. The indoor skydiving experience is created by fans that generate 150 miles per hour wind capable of lifting flyers into the air within a specially designed flight chamber. The company said that it is possible that the facility will be used for the training of military personnel whose job can include skydiving. The development application is currently on display at Penrith City Council.

Region. Image is a problem

A problem with Western Sydney in attracting and retaining professional skilled staff was its image in the business community, according to a submission, by the Parramatta-based Regional Development Australia-Sydney, on the Professional Services Industry Action Plan being developed.by the NSW government.

Other issues raised included professional services were Sydney-CBD centric; the sector’s presence in these areas could contribute to the establishment of business parks, close to existing transport and infrastructure; and the reason why finance, property and professional business services are underrepresented in Western Sydney was not fully known.

Region. Investment in rail

Premier Barry O’Farrell will lead trade missions to China, India and the United Arab Emirates this year seeking interest in investment in infrastructures projects, such as, the north-west and south-west rail links.

Homebush. Plan for 650 units

The Department of Planning has on public exhibition, until February 29, a concept plan application for a mixed-use development consisting of five buildings with eight towers, ranging in height from two to 21 storeys, at Columbria Precinct, Parramatta, Road, Homebush. The plan provides approximately 650 residential units, 17,240 square metres of commercial floorspace, 4800 square metres of retail floorspace, 920 square metres of community space, and basement parking for approximately 800 vehicles. The proponents are David Lhuede Pty Ltd, Kennards Self Storage and Hai Phong Properties.

Region. Water entitlements purchased

The Office of Environment and Heritage has purchased 4900 megalitres of river water entitlements from water users across the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, at a cost of $5.7 million, as part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River recovery Program. The water was previously available for licence holders to extract for irrigation and other purposes. Now the water purchases will be reserved for environmental flows

Parramatta. Rudd at Lunar function

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, will be guest speaker at the Lunar New Year function of the Asia Business Connection on February 2, at the Parkroyal Parramatta. In addition, Adam Liaw - winner of Australia's MasterChef Series 2, 2010 - will share his journey from being a successful corporate lawyer to a man who made his dreams a reality.

Region. Honorary doctorates

Honorary doctorates were presented to Emeritus Professor Bruce Barraclough AO, Professor Alexandra Bune AM and Mr Peter Brennan AM in recognition of their distinguished community service, at the inaugural University of Western Sydney School of Medicine graduation ceremony.
Emeritus Professor Bruce Barraclough is regarded as a clinical and governance leader across the field of cancer care and treatment. Professor Alexandra Bune came to UWS as a member of the Medical School Expert Advisory Group and subsequently took up the role of Associate Dean (Academic Planning). Mr Peter Brennan AM, Chief Executive Officer of Bradcorp, has been a long time advocate of social and corporate responsibility.

Vice-chancellor Professor Janice Reid said each recipient has contributed in different ways to the success of the UWS School of Medicine and advanced the health and wellbeing of people in Greater Western Sydney and beyond.

North Ryde. Uni placed fourth

Macquarie University has made the prestigious Lieden list of the top 500 universities in the world in terms of scientific impact. The Leiden Ranking 2011/2012 has the university ranked 202 in the world and fourth in Australia behind the ANU and the universities of Melbourne and Queensland.

The ranking measures the scientific performance of 500 major universities worldwide. Using a sophisticated set of bibliometric indicators, it aims to provide highly accurate measurements of the scientific impact of universities and of universities' involvement in scientific collaboration.

Region. UWS receives $29.8 million

The University of Western Sydney has received $29.8 million from the federal government to significantly expand its flagship UWSCollege of higher education and to establish a new tertiary education facility in Lithgow - the first in the region

The expansion will see it significantly increase its enrolments to 5500 students within the next decade, with brand new facilities at Lithgow and the University's Penrith and Bankstown campuses, as well as enhanced facilities at the main UWSCollege site at Blacktown.

UWSCollege was established by UWS in 2006 to provide a supportive pathway to university and improve access to higher education for students who may not have had the same academic preparation to gain a place in a university course.

In addition to the federal funding, UWS is investing $15 million of its own to support the initiative.

North Ryde. Celebration of agreement

Edward Jung, who made his name at Microsoft Corporation where he was chief architect and advisor to executive staff, visited Macquarie University on a recent visit to Australia to celebrate the new commercialisation agreement between the university and Intellectual Ventures, the company Jung co-founded after leaving Microsoft.

The agreement enables Macquarie to submit inventions within Intellectual Venture's portfolio of interest for evaluation. If the evaluation is positive, Intellectual Ventures will effectively purchase the intellectual property and put its substantial funds under management to commercialise it.

Region. Independents suffer

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved Woolworths’and Lowe’s acquisition of two Home Timber and Hardware stores in the NSW Southern Highlands from former franchisees, as independent retailers quit the sector in face of increased competition. Mark Burrows, GM, of Home Timber and Hardware, which has stores across Western Sydney, said more acquisitions were under consideration.

Parramatta. Companies lodge bids

Three short-listed bidders, British-based Serco, French firm Veolia Transdev with Sydney-based Transfield Services, and Queensland ferry operator Transit Systems with Forgacs Engineering, have lodged bids to run Sydney’s ferry fleet. The new operator is expected to be in place by the end of the year, with the government retaining control over routes and rates.

Marsden Park. Stockland acquires land

Property developer Stockland has acquired a parcel of land in Sydney's northwest growth corridor with the potential for about 2300 new homes. Stockland bought the 163-hectare site in Marsden Park for $165 million, on deferred payment terms, from the private Winten Property Group. The land, about 5 kilometres from Riverstone railway station and 15 minutes’ drive from Norwest Business Park, is adjacent to Marsden Park Industrial Precinct, which is under development.

Region. 'We have failed dismally'.

High-tech and manufacturing in Australia has been left behind, according to Phillip Toner, at the Centre for Industry and Innovation, at the University of Western Sydney.

“Unlike Norway and Brazil, we have failed dismally to exploit the opportunities of a temporary resource boom to create high-tech service and manufacturing industries,” Mr Toner said in a letter published in The Australian Financial Review (AFR).

“Eighty per cent of capital equipment used for the LNG boom will be imported.”

Mr Toner said the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics said the total sales of local high-tech services and manufacturing firms to mining was a “tiny” $9 million a year.

“Does the AFR, (in an editorial ‘Making the mining boom pay off’) seriously endorse an economic structure akin to a third-world to a ‘resource enclave’, reliant on unprocessed mineral and agricultural exports and tourism?”, he said.

“Such enclave economics are marked by large income disparities across regions, regional separatism and boom-bust economic growth.

“Can we maintain first-world living standards while embarking on a strategy of technological backwardness?”