Region. Double-decker buses?

Hillsbus owner ComfortDelGro Cabcharge has confirmed it has been in talks with Bustech, the Gold Coast manufacturer of double-decker buses. The buses seat 96 passengers, compared with 64 on the extra long articulated, or bendy, bus and would provide safety to those on express services, which travel up to 100 kilometre per hour on the M2, Bustech director Joe Calabro said. The Parramatta-based BusNSW, representing more than 700 private bus and coach operators, supports the new bus design.

Regions. Firms gain from closure

Candida Stationery, at Greenacre, The Cameron's Group, at Minto, and Cheque-Mates, at Sefton, are sharing in the windfall as work floods the market following the closure of the market leader, Australian Envelopes, which has a factory in Granville. Administrators were called in; 300 were cut.

Parramatta. Sydney Water issues tender

Parramatta-based Sydney Water has issued a tender for the supply of electricity to over 1100 sites, ranging from treatment plants to reservoirs and depots, from October 2012. “Sydney Water is one of the largest users of electricity within the NSW,” said MD, Dr Kerry Schott.

Bankstown. Roundtable on aerospace

RDA Sydney will hold the Sydney Aerospace and Defence Interest Group’s third roundtable, at Bankstown City Council chambers, on July 27. The purpose of these discussions is to bring together the key industry companies and stakeholders to gain an update as to the key issues affecting the industry in Sydney. Greater Western Sydney is home to a large range of innovative, specialist and high-tech aerospace and defence companies servicing both the domestic and international markets.

Westmead. Professor 'outstanding researcher'

Professor Roger Reddel, who is the Sir Lorimer Dods Professor and director of Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), and head of CMRI's Cancer Research Unit, has been named “Outstanding Cancer Researcher of the Year” at the 5th annual Cancer Institute NSW Premier’s Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research. Professor Reddel and his team at CMRI are best known for discovering Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres, the mechanism that 10 to 15 per cent of cancers depend on for their continual growth. In addition, the team were the first to discover the molecular composition of the enzyme, telomerase, on which the other 85 per cent of cancers depend.

Region. Speculative development

Speculative development has slowly started to return to Western Sydney, according to Colliers International’s Sydney Industrial Research and Forecast Report, for the first half of 2011. DEXUS, Australand and Goodman are all looking to take advantage of the lack of prime-grade space.

Richmond. Forensic science facility

UWS graduates of the Bachelor of Natural Science (Forensic Science) program can work as forensic specialists in a variety of areas, with the opening of the Joint Facility for Forensic Science Research and Training, at the UWS Hawkesbury campus, Richmond. UWS students from diverse fields such as policing, law, nursing, business and health are also using the new forensic science facility to get a fundamental understanding of crime scene management that may be useful in their professional careers. The facility is a collaboration of the UWS School of Natural Sciences and the Forensic Services Group within the NSW Police Force. The facility builds on established strong links between UWS and the NSW Police Force. UWS offers the undergraduate Bachelor of Policing program and the NSW Police Force has located its Police Leadership Centre on the Hawkesbury campus.