Parramatta. New position for former STC chairman

Alan Brown, a lawyer and former chairman, of the Sydney Turf Club, has bee appointed chairman, of the new five-person Racing NSW board. Mr Brown has had a long and successful involvement in thoroughbred racing, according to The Daily Telegraph. Elected to the STC board in 1983, he subsequently held various positions including treasurer and vice-chairman before being appointed chairman in 2005.

North Ryde. Pathology labs integrated

Primary Health Care, which took over its bigger rival, Symbion Health, in a deal worth $2.7 billion, has integrated the two North Ryde laboratories and reduced the headcount by about 700, equating to almost $1000 a week, or about 500 full-time equivalents, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Penrith. New economic development body

A new organisation, yet to be named but currently known as Penrith’s Economic Development Entity (EDE), will come into being from January and assume both the current activities of the Penrith Valley Economic Development Corporation (PVEDC) and the council’s Economic Development Unit. The single, independent entity would streamline the delivery of economic development services to meet Penrith’s role and obligations as a regional city, and to maximise the opportunity for undertaking major-project initiatives for creating some 40,000 jobs by 2031. Sixty-eight applications were received for appointment to the EDE board.

Blacktown. Funds to establish campus

UWS has allocated $5.7 million to help establish the UWS Nirimba campus as the new home for UWS College which is a higher education centre for first-year students and those on alternative pathways to university programs. The funds are part of $7.05 million received from Federal Government's Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund.

Parramatta. Council breaches rule

Parramatta City Council has been warned to stop requiring new entertainment venues to apply for Place Of Public Entertainment (POPE) permits, which the government did away with from October 2007, Council, by applying an out-of-date live music regulation, was one of 27 local government authorities which had breached the rule. The removal of the rule could potentially save venues hundreds of thousands of dollars in building changes that they would otherwise have to make, the Department of Planning said.

Penrith. Major CBD projects on the cards

A hotel up to16 storeys has been proposed in a master plan for a 10-stage, mix-use project, on the former 7855-square-metre Panasonic site, in Station Street, Penrith. Other facilities included a tavern, medical centre, cinema, approximately 1140 dwellings, restaurants and a child care centre. It would be developed over a period of 10-15 years and have a gross floor area of 157,000 square metres. The second project is a three-stage mixed-use project with frontages to High Street and Union Road. Stages one and two would each include eight-storey mixed-use developments and total 48 residential units and commercial space. Stage three may include two buildings of six storeys containing retail, space for small office/home office (SOHO) businesses and 29 apartments.