Region. No joy for commuters

There was little joy for Sydney public transport users in the federal government’s Budget, according to The Daily Telegraph. The government stood by its $2.1 billion investment in the Epping to Parramatta Rail Link. The North West Rail Link did not rate a mention, suggesting Premier Barry O’Farrell is a long way off convincing Prime Minister Julia Gillard to authorize investment body, Infrastructure Australia, to help fund the project, the paper said.

Parramatta. Office demand rising

New research confirms tenant demand is rising, particularly in Parramatta, Macquarie Park and parts of the north shore, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald. A CBRE report highlights Parramatta as one of the key markets, with the area’s grade-A vacancy rate having fallen to 1.8 per cent, the lowest rate recorded. The associate director of office services for CBRE, Stephen Panagiotopoulos, said the Parramatta market had very little development activity in recent years, though a number of projects were expected to start between 2012 and 2015

Region. UWS students win title

A group of enterprising management students from the University of Western Sydney have taken out the title of Australian University Champion in Supply Chain Management and will represent Australia at the Global University Final in Amsterdam. Chris Fifita, Markie Lugton, Kate Smith and Ali Leghaei have been competing in The Fresh Connection National Competition over the last seven weeks against 170 supply chain professional and students from Curtin University, Queensland University of Technology and the University of South Australia. The Fresh Connection is an online training module in supply chain management that aims to simulate a business with the outcome of increasing return on investment. Stephen Waters, lecturer at the UWS School of Management, who mentored the students throughout the competition, said the students would be the first ever international representatives from Australia for the final in Amsterdam.

Region. $20 million to assist councils

“The injection of $100 million to encourage industry to relocate employment opportunities to urban fringes will provide for real job choices for residents. The allocation of $20 million to assist local councils undertake new demonstration residential projects that are liveable, sustainable and offer a high quality of life recognises the real life challenges facing urban densification," said Caryn Kakas, executive director, of the Residential Development Council, on last night’s federal budget announcement. Ms Kakas said while these initiatives were steps in the right direction toward creating a long overdue blueprint for our future communities, there was still much more to be done.