Parramatta. DAs approved

Parramatta City Council has approved a DA for the alterations and additions to a licensed restaurant, at 116 Wigram Street, Harris Park, including increasing the seating capacity to 521 persons. A DA has been approved for an educational college for hairdressing and associated hair salon, at 397 Church Street, North Parramatta.

Westmead. $45 million research facility

The Children’s Medical Research Institute proposes a new $45 million development on its site at Westmead. The application, with the Department of Planning, includes the construction of a new 5-storey building including core service rooms, laboratories, administration areas, loading dock, car park and associated infrastructure. The institute will provide research in the fields of cancer, neurochemistry, development biology and genetic medicine. The DA is on public exhibition until May 8.

Region. New STEPS for tourism industry

The University of Western Sydney has set up the Sustainable Tourism Enterprise Partnerships (STEPS) pilot program to help Western Sydney tourism businesses cope with rapid population growth and other environmental pressures. It is designed to help businesses adjust to environmental challenges such as climate change and the additional 600,000 people expected to move to the North-West and South-West regions. The program, part of the Sustainable Places pilot program funded by the NSW Government Environmental Trust, is a partnership between UWS and Hawkesbury City Council.