Glenfield. Agriculture school listed

The National Trust has listed on its heritage register the grounds of Hurlstone Agriculture High School, 140 hectares of which the NSW Government plans to sell.The Education Department hoped to sell all but 20 hectares of the school's land as part of a directive in the mini-budget last November to raise $239 million through land sales.The Education Minister, Verity Firth, is due to receive a report on the possible sale today after an inquiry led by a former president of the NSW Farmers Association, Mal Peters.But the outcome will be delayed until after the HSC to limit disruption to students.

Region. Factors driving quality jobs

The Metropolitan Strategy’s jobs target – 280,000 net additional jobs in Western Sydney by 2031– cannot be achieved without substantial re-engineering of the regional economy. Manufacturing and materials handling sectors are not significant jobs generators and face significant challenges in maintaining current employment bases, with the recession and national measures addressing climate change. Quality jobs will not appear by market forces alone but come with geographical competencies making an area attractive to investors, quality infrastructure building an area’s links and networks, and urban structures that build efficiencies into business and everyday life, according to Professor Bill Randolph, from the UNSW Faculty of the Built Environment and Sharon Fingland, the assistant director, of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) in a meeting with Tom Gellibrand, the new deputy director, planmaking and urban renewal, in the Department of Planning.

Region. McLaren back as president

Clr Alison McLaren, from the Blue Mountians City Council, was re-elected president, of the lobby group the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils WSROC, at its AGM last night. Clr Bart Bassett, Hawkesbury City Council, was elected senior vice-president, Clr Edmond Atalla, Blacktown City Council, was elected junior vice-president, and Clr Andrew Wilson, Parramatta City Council was elected treasurer.