Parramatta. Most workers leave town

Parramatta struggles to retain its workforce, according to Parramatta City Council’s Economic Development Strategy 2011-2016. Only 25 percent of Parramatta’s residents work in Parramatta. Some 23 per cent of the city’s managers, professional and para-professionals work locally.

Sydney Olympic Park. Horse lovers on show

After two years of planning with Equestrian Australia, Events NSW and Sydney Showground, horse lovers from Australia and overseas will the inaugural Equitana Sydney event, at the Showground, from November 10-13. The event will also incorporate the Equestrian Australia – Australian Grand Final.

North West. IKEA at Marsden Park

IKEA has bought a 37,000-square-metre site, at Sydney Business Park, for about $29.5 million, at Marsden Park. IKEA is the second bulky goods retailer to secure space at Sydney Business Park; Bunnings acquired a 33,440-square-metre site last December. “Sydney Business Park is gearing up to be one of Sydney’s largest bulky goods retailers,” said the park’s development director, Owen Walsh IKEA, which opened the biggest in the southern hemisphere, at Tempe, on November 3, is investigating sites in Sydney's south west.

Parramatta. Workers bypass Parramatta

Approximately 48,000 Western Sydney residents bypass Parramatta every day to work in centres east of the city, providing an indication of the size of the pool of people who could be attracted to work in Parramatta, if the employment mix, transport options and general amenity were to improve over time, according to Parramatta City Council’s Economic Development Strategy 2011-2016.