Region. Clive Peeters to close stores

The struggling retailer Clive Peeters, which has five stores and its NSW warehouse in Western Sydney, has gone into voluntary administration with a debt of $160 million. The company will close stores and probably shed several hundred of its 1300 staff in an attempt to keep the 45-store, $500 million-a-year household goods chain trading in some form. The company also has stores in Queensland, Tasmania, Melbourne and regional Victoria. McGrathNichol has been appointed as administrator.

Parramatta. Civic Place project closer

Parramatta City Council CEO, Dr Robert Lang, anticipates work on the $1.4 billion Civic Place redevelopment to commence mid-year, with staff parking, for approximately 100 vehicles, in the area facing Smith Street and adjacent to the Sydney Water head office, to be relocated to council’s Wentworth Street Car Park, from June. Pending a decision on whether staff would be charged a parking fee, a transition period would be set. He said he queried whether council was in the business of providing free parking when no other business in Parramatta did so.

South West. Stage 2 on public exhibition

Stage B2 of the South West Rail Link project incorporating 11 kilometres of double track rail line including rail infrastructure, two train stations at Edmondson Park and Leppington; and a train stabling facility at Rossmore, west of Leppington, is on public exhibition.

Parramatta. Corporate sponsors drop out

Parramatta City Council reports, in the its draft quarterly review for the March period, that two major corporate sponsors, at $50,000 each had dropped out in the period and others were not forthcoming. The target for the period was $52,000. The actual contribution was $15,000. “In a recovering economy, we plan to turn this around by at least $50,000 in the next period,” the document said. Sponsorship has fallen dramatically, since June 2009, when $60,000 was achieved.

Bankstown. Airport gets new CEO

Colin Grove will take up the position of CEO, of Bankstown Airport, on June 15, when Kim Ellis will step down from the position he has held for nine years. Mr Grove’s former positions include national manager leasing for the Federal Airports Corporation, general manager property development and commercial trading, at Sydney Airport Corporation, and director, of property acquisitions and commercial redevelopment, for the Sydney Metro Rail project.

Region. UWS lecturer appointed as magistrate

University of Western Sydney School of Law lecturer, Joseph Harman, has been appointed to the Federal Magistrates Court. Mr Harman, who lectures part time in Family Law, has 25 years experience in the law, including in-family dispute resolution and the legal aid sector. Mr Harman has been director, of the Cottage Specialist Family Law Centre and Penrith Family Mediation Centre, since 2008, and 10 years before this was the sole practitioner, of Harman and Co, in Penrith. He is also on the panel of arbitrators for the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Magistrates Court, as well as the Legal Aid Commission of NSW panel for the Family Court and Children's Court jurisdictions. Mr Harman was one of three lawyers chosen from a list of 67 applicants, and starts work as a magistrate, in June, at the Parramatta registry.

North Ryde. Director appointed president

Macquarie University director of sustainability, Leanne Denby, has been appointed president, of Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS), the primary forum for sustainability in the Australian and New Zealand tertiary sector. ACTS’ mission is to promote the integration of principles of sustainability within the tertiary sector’s institutional curricula and operations.

Penrith. Future of regional city

As a regional city, Penrith is expected to be a focal point for regional transport, jobs and services, according to Penrith City Council. As the principal gateway to Sydney from Western NSW, and geographically well positioned to service both the North West and South West Growth Centres, the city’s catchment could extend to more than 900,000 people over the next two decades. “To be a sustainable region, our employment base also needs to diversify so that our current reliance on manufacturing is strengthened by growth in other sectors. The region needs to focus on promoting the industries involved in health and wellbeing, logistics, sustainability, arts/culture and communication, and innovation in manufacturing,” council said.