Region. Promoting the region

Western Sydney must have its own separate regional development authority (RDA) to oversee the regeneration and promotion of the region into the nation’s leading economic powerhouse, according to a report commissioned by the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC). “Our region’s economy is already worth $85 billion a year – making it the nation’s third largest after Sydney and Melbourne – and yet the city of Melbourne has four separate RDAs. But for too long Western Sydney has just been regarded as a giant dormitory for the Sydney CBD. It is time it was recognised in its own right and on its own merits,” said. Clr Alison McLaren, WSROC president. Clr McLaren said WSROC had taken the first steps to promote the region in commissioning a Future Directions paper which identified a series of key steps to building a new identity for the region.