Shell's $150m uprgrade nearing completion

Engineering work on the $150 million upgrade at Shell Australia’s Clyde Refinery is expected to be completed in June, said company chairman, Russell Caplan. He also said the supply of Shell’s V-Power, Unleaded 95 and Premium Unleaded fuels has resumed following a key piece of machinery broke down in January.

Hotel approved for heritage-listed building

The Kelly Liquor Group has had its DA for the occupation of the heritage-listed building, at 215 Church Street, built originally for the Commonweath Bank, into a hotel. The heritage-listed building, adjacent at 213 Church Street, formerly the Parramatta Post Office, is expected to open shortly as The Corporate nightclub.

Expansion of 16-storey building refused

Parramatta City Council has refused an application by Stateland Centre Pty Ltd to add an additional two floors to its 16-storey mixed-use building, under construction at 8 Cowper Street, Harris Park. Parramatta Bowling Alley formerly occupied the site.

Region is developing a 'distinctive' economy

Professor Phillip O’Neill, director of the UWS Urban Research Centre, in Parramatta, said Western Sydney was developing a distinctive economy built around business-employment growth hubs in places such as North Ryde, Homebush and Baulkham Hills. Approximately 40,000 people are employed at Macquarie Park, North Ryde – with more than half travelling less that 10 kilometres to work.

Bradcorp donates a chair to UWS

Sydney developer, Bradcorp, has donated a chair be known as the Peter Brennan Chair of General Practice, at the UWS School of Medicine, made possible by the donation of Peter Brennan, CEO, of Bradcorp, to help address the critical shortage of GPs in Greater Western Sydney. First intake of 100 students, at the Macarthur campus was in 2007, with two-thirds living in Western Sydney. The first stage of $52 million, 8120-square-metre state-of-the-art building is expected to be formally opened later this year.

Reading to open cinema complex at Rouse Hill

The US Reading Entertainment cinema chain proposes to open, later this year, a nine-screen complex, at the recently opened Rouse Hill shopping centre. The company, which has complexes in the Sydney CBD, Rhodes and Auburn, is reported to be considering selling land next to its Auburn cinema.

STC may buy Kembla Grange racecourse

The Sydney Turf Club, which owns the Rosehill Gardens and Canterbury Park, is again the market to buy Kembla Racecourse from the NSW Government. The Illawarra Turf Club and the STC had drawn up legal documents four years ago but the deal fell through, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.