Region. Office stock and vacancy rate

Colliers Sydney Metropolitan Office report for the second half 2011 has identified to the office stock and vacancy rate in Western Sydney’s five major office markets: North Ryde/Macquarie Park, 807,527 square metres, 9.8 per cent; Parramatta, 685,171 square metres, 9.3 per cent; Norwest, 323,864 square metres, 15.3 per cent; Rhodes, 141,467 square metres, 2.0 per cent; SydneyOlympic Park/Homebush Bay, 101,261 square metres, 0.7 per cent.

Kemps Creek. Site ruled out

Hazardous waste from a radioactive site at Hunters Hill will be sorted on site and stored at a government facility in Lidcombe, not buried at Kemps Creek, the state government has promised. Instead only non-hazardous dirt and rock will be sent to Kemps Creek, with any hazardous material going to an Office of Environment and Heritage facility at Lidcombe that accepts radioactive material from other sites, including hospitals.

Parramatta. Economic pay-off

Parramatta City Council put $500,000 – matched by the state government – into the 10-day Sydney Festival activities, in Parramatta, in January. Lord Mayor Lorraine Wearne expects a good economic pay-off for the city and hopes it will help build its nascent events calendar that includes the south east Asian arts festival, Parramasala, currently underway, New Year's Eve and Australia Day festivities and a winter ice festival called Winterlight.

Newington Revenue up 55 per cent

During the financial year 2011 reporting period, Ainsworth Game Technology, at Newington, achieved significant growth within Australia, with domestic revenue increasing 55 per cent from $48.2 million during the financial year 2010 to $74.7 million for 2011. Domestic revenue represented 76 per cent of total revenue, with the largest contributors being the NSW and Queensland markets, which accounted for 89 per cent of domestic revenue. International revenue was $23.3 million, compared to $21.0 million for the previous corresponding period, representing an 11 per cent increase.