Parramata. Proposed 8-storey project

The Joint Regional Planning Panel-Sydney West will consider Bookrill Pty Ltd’s DA for the demolition of existing buildings and construction of an eight-storey mixed use building with fifty three units, retail and commercial areas above basement levels, at 7 and 9 Victoria Road and 21 Sorrell Street, Parramatta. The estimated cost of construction is $13.9 million. The panel will meet at Parramatta City Council on September 9.

Silverwater. EOIs rushed

Grocery wholesaler, Metcash, at Silverwater, has received about 150 expressions of interest from independent retailers keen to buy 77 of Franklins' 85 stores once Metcash’s $215 million acquisition of NSW’s fourth-largest supermarket chain in completed. Franklins plans to on-sell the stores under the IGA banner and is expected to recoup as much as $150 million. Metcash is awaiting clearance from the ACCC possibly on September 23, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Parramatta. Trade delegation to China

Parramatta City Council Lord Mayor, Paul Garrard, will lead a trade mission to China from September 6 to 14 to promote Parramatta and Western Sydney as a destination for foreign investment and to facilitate commercial opportunities for local businesses.
The delegation will visit Shanghai and Beijing and the city of Yiwu; one of the largest exhibition and distribution centres for commodities in the world. The following businesses will be represented: Asia Business Connection, ANZ Bank, AMP Capital Investors, Cisco Systems, Etienne Lawyers, Grima Recycling, Moore Stephens, Parramatta Advertiser, Pivotal HR, Taurus Trade Finance, Toland Architects, and Zhinar Architects. Clrs Chiang Lim and Michael McDermott will travel with the delegation at their own expense.

Kings Park. Property bought for $4 million

Margan Holdings has sold an industrial building, which includes a 3411-square-metre warehouse, at Kings Park, for $4 million, to food services company, A Clouet (Australia) Pty Ltd, at Seven Hills, which is 100 per cent owned by the Denis Freres trading and industrial company. A Clouet owns the AYAM food brand.

Blue Mountains. Promoting the region in India

Tourism representatives from Blue Mountains, Sydney, the South Coast and the Mid North Coast are meeting this week with agents, product managersand travel trade media in Mumbai and Hyderabad, India. The NSW Government has invested $57,500 to help nine NSW tourism operators attend trade events in India to promote the state’s tourism experiences and attractions. Minister for Tourism, Jodi McKay, said India was an important and growing tourism market for NSW with almost half of all Indian visitors to Australia last year coming to NSW. In the year ending December 2009, 55,300 Indian visitors travelled to NSW spending more than 2.1 million nights here and injecting $179 million into the state’s economy. The latest outlook from the Tourism Forecasting Committee suggests the number of Indian visitors to Australia will more than quadruple to around 459,000 by 2018

Eastern Creek. ASICS has new head office

ASICS Oceania, part of the world's third biggest sports shoe company, has opened its new Australian head office at Eastern Creek. The property is essentially double the size of its Seven Hills site. The company was once located at Silverwater. CB Richard Ellis real estate agent Matthew Flynn said Eastern Creek had proved a "desirable location" over the past five years, attracting Myer, Coca Cola, LG and Best and Less to the area.

Region. WSROC cautious on cap rise

The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC), at Blacktown, has cautiously welcomed the government’s announcement that the cap on some Section 94 levies would be raised to $30,000 as a first step in resolving the issue of cost shifting in providing essential community infrastructure. WSROC president, Clr Alison McLaren, stressed that the new cap would still leave a significant shortfall.

Parramatta. Chinese MOUs

Parramatta City Council has ratified a Memorandum of Understanding between council and Dongcheng District People’s Government, Beijing, and endorsed a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between council and Yiwu Municipal People’s Government