Large swathe of army land to be protected

The federal Department of the Environment's draft recommendation on the sale of the Ingleburn army base calls for at least 144 hectares of the 311-hectare property be protected. The base, the biggest single block of surplus commonwealth land in the country available for release over the next three years, was to form part of the larger Edmonston Park estate, which Landcom, owned by the the NSW Government, hoped would eventually accommodate up to 7500 dwellings.

No CCTV to fight crime in the CBD

A feasibility study of the merits of closed circuit television (CCTV) in the Parramatta city centre has found insufficient justification for a CCTV network which would incur substantial costs to install, operate, monitor and maintain. The draft 2008-2013 City Centre Crime Prevention Plan noted the areas with the greatest concentration of crime were Church Street, the bus/rail interchange and surrounding areas, Westfield and the Church Street Mall.

The draft, which also noted that "Parramatta is generally a very safe place to work, shop, visit and live" goes on public exhibition this month. Sydney City Council has spent $3.5 million revamping its closed circuit television (CCTV) network from video technology to digital comprises 82 surveillance cameras.

New industrial estates in the west

Most new industrial estates in Sydney will be concentrated in the outer west with more than 435,000 square metres in the next two years. This supply and that around the nation could impact on the industrial property market's long run of rising capital values and rent in 2008, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Industrial rents in Sydney have been held back by landlords offering cheaper rates in the outer suburbs. Belinda Nowland, Savills research director NSW, said she expected more properties would be built on a spec basis and would require higher rents.