Marsden Park IKEA to expand

IKEA is expected to lodge a DA with Blacktown City Council for a new store at Marden Park. The 36,000-square-metre store on Richmond Road will be similar in size to that recently opened at Tempe. Work is expected to commence late this year with an expected opening in 2014-15. IKEA is looking for a fourth store in the est or southwest.MD, David Hood said IKEA had to open more stores because its store at Rhodes was overcrowded.

Prospect. $100 million theme park

Construction of the $100 million Wet ‘n’ Wild Sydney theme park, at Prospect, by Village Roadshow, is expected to begin in a few months in time to open by September 2013. The Department of Planning approved an application in December for the design, construction and operation of stages 1 and 2. The application also sought approval for a Complying Development Code for the future development of Stage 3. The theme park has leased 25 hectares of land from the Western Sydney Parklands Trust. Village is reported to have said 300 jobs would be created during construction and operation of the park and $500 million would be injected into the Western Sydney economy in the first 10 years.

Parramatta. Graduates join Sydney Water

Eighteen graduates from Sydney and the Illawarra have joined Sydney Water’s 2012 Graduate Program. Kevin Young, managing director of Sydney Water, in Parramatta, said the program employs graduates in a range of fields including engineering, science, commerce and communications. “Sydney Water’s graduates take on a new role every six to 12 months during the three year program, giving them experience in a number of different areas within their field of expertise, he said.

Region. Quicker housing approvals

Camden, Campbelltown Holroyd and Penrith councils have been selected for an expansion of the Electronic Housing Code, which when operational will allow families to get their home approved in a few days. “Once the code expansion is in place in these council areas, families will be able to get new home and home renovation approvals at the touch of a button,” The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Brad Hazzard, said.

Parramatta. 50 years in the city

MatthewsFolbigg, a leading legal practice in Parramatta, will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. The practice has grown rapidly since its early beginnings in 1962 when two brothers, Brian and John Folbigg, established one of the first specialist property law practices in Parramatta. Paul Matthews began his practice in Blacktown in 1970, specialising in areas of property and commercial law. The two practices merged in 1997 to form MatthewsFolbigg.

Oatlands. EOI in Oatlands House

Expressions of interest close on March 1 in the award winning function and reception centre, Oatlands House, which sits on 1.43 hectares within the Oatlands Golf Course. Captain Percy Simpson built the house in the 1830s. He came to Australia in 1822 to take up an appointment as commandant of the convicts’ settlement at Wellington. One of his sons, Sir George Bowen Simpson, was born at Oatlands and became the judge of the colony at the age of 28.

Parramatta. EOI vacancies

Parramatta. EOI in vacancies

The Parramatta Park Trust has called for expressions of interest for three part-time vacancies on the atatutory body responsible for historic Parramatta Park, an 85-hectare World Heritage Listed parklands estate.