Region. M4 toll in the balance

The NSW cabinet is debating whether to scrap the toll on the M4 when the private concession ends in February, amid fears the move will attract an estimated 500 extra vehicles an hour. Finance Minister, Joe Tripodi, is said to favour scrapping the toll, while Transport Minister, David Campbell, and Treasurer, Eric Roozendall and other ministers want to retain it to fund infrastructure. Business groups and the infrastructure sector want to keep the toll. “Motorists in Western Sydney have more than paid for the M4 and the NRMA is pleased the state government will remove the toll,” NRMA motoring and services director, David Bentham, said in The Australian Financial Review

Region. 'Development credits' for farmers

Sydney’s fringe farmlands can be saved from being swamped by suburbia if residents in already-populous areas accept taller high-rises, at the Sydney Food Fairness Alliance's,Hungry for Change, food summit. The high-rises would be built by developers who pay farmers to stay on their land by buying ''development credits''. Under the scheme the Government would allocate the development credits to farmers in the Sydney basin as an incentive to keep farming, said town planner, Ian Sinclair. The farmers could then sell the credits - likely to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars - to developers, who could trade them for planning permission to increase the density of their projects in built-up areas in the metropolitan area, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Parramatta. Office market report

There has been very little activity in the Parramatta office market on both the leasing and investment fronts over the past six months, according to the latest CBRE Sydney Metropolitan Office Marketview report. Sydney Water’s relocation from the Sydney CBD showed the potential for Parramatta to attract tenants from larger office markets. The global financial crisis, however, has stopped and momentum that this deal could have created. The total office space in the Parramatta CBD is 682,595 square metres. Vacancy is 9.6 per cent. Average net face rent is $326 per square metre.

Campbelltown. Shopping centre on the market

Expressions of interest have been called for Rosemeadow Marketplace, with a GFA of 6323 square metres, on a 2.3- hectare site, in the Campbelltown growth corridor. National tenants include a Woolworths supermarket, Pizza Hut and a McDonald’s Drive-Thru. The shopping centre has an approximate net income of $1.4 million when fully leased.

Eastwood. Building sold for $3 million

A retail and commercial building in Eastwood has been sold for $3 million. The modern three-storey building is on a site of about 4000 square metres and comprises 1075 square metres of built space. It is leased to Sakae Japanese Restaurant, plus leaseback to Eastwood Club, for a net rental of $220,000 a year, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Doonside. EOI in display village

Landcom is seeking expressions of interest from project home builders who wish to join a panel of 3-4 builders to participate in a display village, at the future residential community, Bunya, in Doonside, comprising 730 lots.