Blue Mountains. Wolgan Valley wins awards

The $125 million Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, in the Blue Mountains, won three categories, at the 13th annual AHA (NSW) Accommodation Awards for Excellence: Best Environmental Initiative, Regional Deluxe Accommodation of the Year and Outstanding Contribution to Tourism. Accommodation establishments which contested other categories were Loxley on Bellbird Hill, Crowne Plaza Parramatta, Novotel Sydney Olympic Park, Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park, Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa and the Carrington Hotel.

Region. Interest in development sites

CB Richard Ellis has sold over $20 million worth of property, in Western Sydney, in the first quarter of 2010. Population growth in the area, low vacancy rates Sydney wide and returning liquidity were driving developer purchases of sites zoned for residential use, the company said.

Region. UWS becoming well connected

UWS and Telstra will work together to develop a range of initiatives and research projects that explore new frontiers in teaching and learning at the university, and greatly enhance the its connectivity with schools and classrooms in Greater Western Sydney. After the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), leading to UWS becoming Australia's most connected university, One of the first areas Telstra will work with UWS on is to help it identify ways to gather, deploy and store sensitive research data in the Hawkesbury area, where UWS is conducting ground-breaking climate change research, in the $40 million Climate Change and Energy Research Facility, based at the Hawkesbury campus. UWS said the MOU will help the university realise its vision of being a leading university of the 21st century.

Region. Barriers to upskilling

Uncertainty about the future was identified as one of many barriers to upskilling employees to take advantage of “emerging technologies”, Gail Silman, NSW Education and Training Adviser, Australian Industry Group, told 300 guests at the Western Sydney Manufacturing Leaders Forum, the highlight event of NSW Manufacturing Week 2010. She said a study reinforced the organisations’s view that the training needs of the manufacturing sector could no longer be overlooked, if Australia was to truly benefit from the outstanding technical advances being made. ”Emerging technologies” are regarded as cutting-edge developments in technology. Other speaker at the function were David Pettigrew, Manager, Strategy and Business Development, QMI Solutions Ltd; Dr Dilip Manuel, Business Development Manager, CSIRO, Future Manufacturing Flagship; and Patrick Medley, Managing Partner, Global Consumer Products Industry, IBM Global Business Services. RDA Sydney hosted the event.
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Region. WSROC supports tax changes

Western Sydney councils have welcomed the changes to small business taxes including the reduction of the tax rate to 28 percent, starting in 2012, included in the federal government’s response to the Henry Review of Taxation. “The small business sector is vital to the economy of Western Sydney. WSROC will always support any initiatives that help to promote the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of our small business owners,” said Clr Alison McLaren, WSROC president. She said WSROC also welcomed taxation reforms, in particular, changes to superannuation for low-paid and older workers. “The changes will bring great benefits to a majority of Western Sydney workers, many of whom are classified as low income earners,” she said.

North Ryde.Competitive rents underpin leasing

Tenants are turning their sights to Sydney’s Macquarie Park office precinct, with more than 15,000 square metres of space leased in the first quarter, according to CBRE’s Sydney Metropolitan MarketView highlighting a significant shift in the second largest office market outside the CBD. CBRE Global Research and Consulting manager, Luke Nixon, said the area’s competitive rents had underpinned the continued growth of the Macquarie Park market, even during the global financial crisis. New space is available at gross rents of around $370 a square metre.