Region. Borger warns on roads

The Minister for Road and the Minister for Western Sydney, David Borger, warned Sydney needed to be careful not to repeat some of its worst urban planning mistakes.in the transformation of its roads – they don’t have natural movement corridors. Among those he instanced were Sydney Olympic Park, the Church Street mall in Parramatta and High Street in Penrith. “They can't support high-end retail and they feel dead and lifeless and we are always trying to put things into them to make them work. We have had a series of urban interventions in the last 30 years where we have closed streets and they haven't always worked,” he said.

Huntingwood. Largest deal in Blacktown

Picasso Foods Australia, a leading provider of innovative, value-added gourmet delicatessen lines, has taken a new five-year lease on its food preparation facility in Huntingwood in what has been described as one of the largest deals in a Blacktown industrial area this year. Covering 2496.5 square metres, the premises is a specialised food processing warehouse that consists of an existing food preparation fit-out as well as cool rooms, freezers and some production areas. Scott Bailey, of Knight Frank Parramatta's industrial team said the deal was struck at a competitive annual rental of $115 per square metre.

Moorebank. Advisors appointed for project

The Department of Finance and Deregulation, which is responsible for the controversial $490 million, 83-hectare Moorebank intermodal terminal project, has appointed advisers to assist with a feasibility study into the project being conducted by the Moorebank Project Office. The advisers include global professional services firm KPMG, engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, advisory group SAHA International and legal firm Blake Dawson. Communications firms Kreab Gavin Anderson and GA Research were commissioned to conduct the community consultation portion of the study. Jodie Brough, a consultant from Kreab Gavin Anderson, said the feasibility study would consider a range of factors including financial, commercial and technical considerations.

Rouse Hill. Charging station for electric cars

The Rouse Hill Town Centre has become the first shopping centre in Australia to introduce networked commercial charging stations for electric vehicles. ChargePoint chief ,James Brown, said the stations at Rouse Hill were an important first step to creating a network to allow electric vehicles to become viable in Sydney. Centre manager, Martin Ollis, said they were responding to current and anticipated future demand. “Being the first retail centre to introduce networked electric car stations is just one of this centre’s many environmental accomplishments,” he said.

Hoxton Park. John Holland wins water contract

NSW Minister for Water, Phil Costa, said a further $35 million would be injected into infrastructure for the Hoxton Park recycled water scheme to boost recycled water supplies in Sydney’s south west. “NSW already has the largest residential recycled water scheme in Australia at Rouse Hill and this new investment will see us deliver a similar scheme for Sydney’s south west,” he said. The Hoxton Park Recycled Water Scheme will eventually supply 1.4 billion litres of recycled water a year to about 14,000 new homes and industrial areas. The $35 million contract was awarded to John Holland.