Parramatta. John Lee is tourism body CEO

John Lee, who was a member of the now defunct Parramatta Tourism Advisory Board several decades ago, has been appointed CEO, of the Tourism & Transport Forum, a 160-member tourism advocacy body, following the resignation of Christopher Brown as managing director. Mr Lee is a former director general of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and a former CEO of the State Transit Authority of NSW. Most recently he consulted to the federal government on Australia’s FIFA World Cup bid and to the Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL team.

Oran Park. Delays hold up project

Tony Perich, MD, of the Greenfields Development Company, told a Sydney Urban Development Institute function, that about 300 lots at his family company’s Oran Park development have been sold, and he believed another 1000 could be sold if released, but it was impossible to get product on to the market because of delays by the NSW government planning authorities. Oran Park, which is being developed with the Parramatta-based government developer, Landcom, is expected to eventually house 25,000 people. “The Department of Planning has lost the plot,” he said in The Australian Financial Review.

Norwest. Expansion and rebranding

Indicative of the growth of accounting firm WHK Horwath is the expansion of its Norwest office with the leasing of up to 500 square metres in a new building. The office, which opened in 2005, has increased its staff from six to 34 over that time. From January1 next year the company will be rebranded Crowe Horwath, adopting the name of the global accounting and management consultancy it is affiliated with, Crowe Horwath International, to signal that the Australian firm has an international capability.

Parramatta. Wipro to open data centre

Indian technology outsourcer, Wipro, which opened an office in the Parramatta CBD in 2008 with 30 staff, is attempting to break into the Australian data centre market as it increases the scope of work it carries out on behalf of local clients, which include banks, utilities and telecommunications companies. Wipro CEO, Suresh Vaswani, told The Australian Financial Review, the centre would open next year as long as a suitable site could be found. Wipro employs 1000 people in Australia; one-third of which are Australians. “The skills shortage is fairly acute here compared to other countries,” he said.

Westmead. $9 million for research

Researchers at the Kids Research Institute, at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, are involved in 15 projects that have been awarded more than $ 9 million from 2011, by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Parramatta. Firm joins mission to Brazil

Property and construction consultants, Rider Levett Bucknall NSW, which has offices in Sydney and Parramatta, is one of 13 NSW companies which Industry & Investment NSW is supporting to target business opportunities with the world’s two premier sporting events – the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games in Brazil. This month’s mission is visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo and includes meetings with city and state governments, the Brazilian Olympic Committee, Brazilian Football Confederation, the Brazilian Ministry of Sports and the 2014 World Cup Local Organising Committee Participants will also take part in business briefings, networking events and attend the Soccerex Global Convention.

Top Ryde. $37 million for apartment towers

Crown International Holdings Group has paid $37 million to build five residential towers and 430 apartments above the 80,000-square-metre Top Ryde City shopping centre, which opened in August this year. Construction of the first two towers is expected early next year Iwan Sunito, of Crown International, said 183 of the 197 apartments in the two towers had been pre-sold at prices ranging from $500,000 to $1.6 million. The company is building ot planning development at Rhodes and Parramatta, and has completed a low-rise apartment building at Newington. The shopping centre is for sale with expectations of about $700 million.

Westmead. $75,000 grant for research

Dr Rose Boutros, at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) has been awarded a grant of $75,000 grant, by the Ramaciotti Foundations, to enable her to continue her biomedical research. Dr Boutros’ research is aimed at understanding cell division and how its misregulation can result in cancer. Vera and Clive Ramaciotti established the charity 40 years ago and since then have contributed $48.5 million in grants to creative and cutting-edge medical research, which often struggles to attract funding from mainstream sources.