Rosehill. Merger talks between STC and AJC

The Australian Jockey Club has embraced pursuing all avenues involved in merging with the Sydney Turf Club in a bid to secure the financial future and prosperity of metropolitan racing, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. AJC CEO, Norman Gillespie said the racing industry “needs reform … the industry’s funding model is breaking down,” he said. An independent body would examine the merits and pitfalls of such a merger and report back in 12 months’ time.

Badgerys Creek. A $557m employment zone

A $557 million plan will go before a Cabinet budget committee tomorrow to declare 10,000ha of western Sydney a "special economic zone". around Badgerys Creek at the junction of the M4 and M7, generating an estimated 52,000 jobs over the next 10 years, according to The Daily Telegraph. It will be the largest in Australia and is expected to create employment new hi-tech, IT and bio-medical industries as well as blue collar manufacturing. The plan also involves the creation of a Western Sydney freight link and dedicated freight rail line linking it to Port Botany. The employment zone could generate $16 billion in value to the NSW economy by 2031.

Region. Two companies win awards

Two Western Sydney firms have been recognised at the Engineering Australia Awards. Peregrine Semiconductors (now renamed Sapphicon Semiconductors), at Sydney Olympic Park, won the Australian Government Engineering Excellence Award for UltraCMOS. Peregrine is a member of the Department of State and Regional Development’s Western Sydney IT Cluster. Lu Papi & Associates, at Cobbitty, won the Australian Engineering Excellence Award for The Freedom Wheelchair. Peregrine and Lu Papi & Associates are both members of the UWS Nanotechnology Network.