Blacktown. $70 million project on CBD edge

Blacktown City Council plans to transform the 17-hectare Blacktown Showground and the Francis Park precinct, on the edge of the CBD, into a $70 million venue including the annual Blacktown Show, exhibition halls, conference rooms, museums and open-air plazas. Mayor, Leo Kelly, said the site would be a mix of Darling Harbour and Sydney Olympic Park. Details of the development and other projects, in the Blacktown City 2025 document, will be released, at Blacktown Olympic Park, on Wednesday.

Liverpoool. Local business is a star

Tamlyn Creative, graphic designers, in Liverpool, is the first NSW business to be recognised as a STAR Workplace as part of the national HR Coach STAR Workplace Program. Owner, Tamlyn Van Zyst undertook the program as a means of improving the attraction and retention of staff and to ensure she was aware of any areas for improvement. The HR Coach Research Institute is a specialist organisation funded by HR Coach Pty Ltd to monitor, analyse and track business confidence and labour issues within the SME business sector. The program measures key areas of the business and provides a framework for future planning as well as valuable recognition for the business.

Parramatta. Winners of Churchill Fellowships

Dr Zhe Li, of North Rocks, has been awarded the Dr Dorethea Sanders Churchill Fellowship, to study the application of bio-engineered skin substitute for burn wound healing, in the USA, France, UK and Netherlands. Others awarded fellowships in the Parramatta area were Rachel Hampshire, of Northmead, who was awarded the Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship, to investigate the feeding assessment tools and the therapeutic techniques used for medically compromised infants in neonatal intensive care units and feeding clinics, in USA and Canada; Joanne McNeil, of Parramatta, to study the role that local government can play in supporting the development of social enterprise, in USA and UK; and Sarah Yule, of Parramatta, to study psychological techniques used to assist in progressing missing persons investigations, in Canada, Netherlands and UK. They were among the 120 Australians warded, five living in the Parramatta area, to be awarded fellowships, in 2008, by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, allowing them to undertake overseas research not available in Australia.