Region. Residential property values

Data from the NSW Valuer-General’s Department shows suburbs in Sydney’s heavily indebted mortgage belt, such as Penrith, Campbelltown and Blacktown, have emerged from the worst of the downturn, with medium property values unchanged following declines in recent years, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The data showed the medium value of residential property in Parramatta, in 2009-2010, at $319,000, a rise of 7.8 per cent. Parramatta City Council will use the data when assessing rate rises

Castle Hill. Chinese to boost NSW economy

John Haines, head of business relations for Amway Australia, based at Castle Hill, said the arrival of 8000 Chinese Amway business owners in Sydney for their annual conference, would inject an estimated $33 million into the Australia economy over two weeks.

Region. Road works

The final stage of the $180 million upgrade of Cowpasture Road was completed just before the end of 2010, at a cost $72 million. NSW Roads Minister David Borger said the stage and involved widening the road between the M7 and North Liverpool Road. Elsewhere, preliminary night works for the $550 million M2 upgrade, the largest project undertaken on an operational motorway in NSW, commenced on January 5. Construction of the upgrade is expected to take two years.

Penrith. Plans for old defence site

A mix of housing, commercial and recreational facilities is planned for the old defence site north of Penrith railway station. The concept plan for what’s been dubbed the North Penrith development - to be located between the station and Coreen Ave and developed by Landcom – is currently on exhibition. About 900-1000 dwellings are planned including Station Square centred around a public square with retail and commercial space. Landcom corporate marketing general manager, Robert Sullivan, said he hoped the approval process would move quickly to allow work to begin later this year.