Castle Hill. Expansion of Castle Towers

The Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) has lodged a DA for the expansion of its Castle Towers shopping centre to create an extra 100,000 square metres of retail space, which will position it as one of the biggest in the country, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. QIC also owns the Westpoint shopping centre, at Blacktown.

Penrith. Too many studies, too few results

Penrith has spent too much money on too many studies for too few results, according to the Penrith City Centre Association. "An untold number of reports and studies have been undertaken over the years on all sorts of things,” association manager Gladys Reed, said. "But we haven't seen any real changes or benefits. It's time for some action.” Ms Reed said Penrith City Council needed to help draw investment to the city by developing relationships with businesses and deciding what development was appropriate for the CBD.

Region. UWS scores high ranking

UWS research scored well in the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) evaluation, with two of the university's key research areas - cultural studies and plant biology - labelled "well above world standard" and achieving a score of five, the highest ranking possible. "Of the 21 broad research disciplines that UWS is research active in, the majority were rated at or above world standard, which is very pleasing," says Professor Andrew Cheetham, UWS Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research). The ERA 2010 National Report is the first comprehensive assessment of the research quality within Australia's universities, measuring it against research carried out by other institutions around the world