Parramatta. Flying the restaurant flag

Courtney’s Brasserie, in the Parramatta CBD, is the only restaurant flying the flag for the city’s restaurants, in NSW Wine Week, from March 14-20. Courtney’s is one of 60 restaurants in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, which offers a special lunch and dinner meal matched with a glass of premium NSW wine for less than $50. For interested patrons, Courtney’s Paul Juipers, who prides himself on “using local produce, supporting local farmers” is offering pan-fried blue eye cod fillet with a tarragon, baby vegetable and mushroom ragout, along with a 2009 Eden Road The Long Road Canberra Reisling, for $30. Bon apetit. The Parramatta 2010 Dining Guide features almost 300 dining venues in the city.

Region. Increase in MBA enrolments

The University of Western Sydney’s MBA has recorded a 25 per cent increase in enrolments this year, albeit from a modest base, in 2009, and a slight increase in fee deferral. At the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, first-term enrolments have increased by 8 per cent and the quality of applicants has also improved. About 60 per cent of the intake is expected to defer payment this year, according to The Australian Financial Review.

The Hills. Work placement pays off

The Hills Shire Council is one organisation across the country using work-integrated learning programs to harness tertiary talent. Get fresh ideas and cut graduate recruitment costs. Civil engineering students are completing work placement programs as part of degree courses. Craig Kenny, council’s recruitment and workforce planning officer, said students from the University of Western Sydney and the University of Sydney were immersed in daily duties, including fieldwork, project management and meetings. He said the placement programs had long-term benefits for the council. “We have a very high rate of trainees that end up being employed with us,” he said in The Australian Financial Review.

Region. Pubs on the market

Expressions of interest have been called for O’Connell’s Inn, at Riverstone. The Imperial Hotel, in the Blue Mountains is for sale and the Club Tavern, at Liverpool, will be auctioned on March 18.

Region. Developers v market gardeners

The clash between agricultural lands and urbanisation in Greater Western Sydney should not be reduced to a fight between developers and market gardeners, according to Clr Alison McLaren, President of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC). “The residents of Western Sydney have much more at stake – the challenge of securing food supply for our region, There will be 1 million more people living in Western Sydney by 2036. We need a plan to secure Western Sydney’s food supply in an equitable, low cost, economically and environmentally sustainable way,” she said. Clr McLaren said the issue would be discussed at a Centre for Health Innovation and Partnership (CHIP) Leaders Forum, on May 17.

Penrith. $138 million hospital project

The NSW Government has given planning approval for the latest stage of the $138 million redevelopment of the Nepean health campus, including a refurbished and expanded intensive care unit ward and new three-level hospital building, The project includes six additional operating theatres and pre- and post-operative areas, extra day only and extended day only beds, two new purpose-built 30-bed surgical wards to replace older style existing wards and a new 12-bed intensive care pod including six additional ICU beds. The project has the potential to create some 150 construction jobs.

Region. Air quality to worsen

Sydney’s air quality is only going to get worse, with a state government report, compiled by the Department of the Environment, Climate Change and Water, signalling that residents will suffer from rising levels of ozone, a primary cause of respiratory diseases such as asthma. The problem will be worst in the region stretching from Richmond in the north to Macarthur in the south and centred on Bringelly - identified as major growth areas for the city - where ozone is already found at higher levels than the rest of Sydney. ''Two new power stations in the Blue Mountains and Campbelltown, both areas with a high prevalence of asthma, will only add to the problem,'' the CEO, of the Asthma Foundation NSW, Greg Smith, in The Sydney Morning Herald.