Rydalmere. Time spent on compliance

Matt Sexton, CEO, of Rheem Australia, headquarted at Rydalmere, said at the Future of Manufacturing in Australia Forum, that his company employs 90 engineers in research and development and that more than 50 of their time is s[pent on compliance, up from 10 to 15 per cent a few years ago.

Parramatta. Servicing the city

Gary Sturgess, a former top bureaucrat in NSW, has declared servicing Parramatta and the missing road links - especially the M4 East - were absolutely critical to take Sydney out of its infrastructure crisis. The state government needed as a second priority to take ownership of a second airport. "The decision on a location for a second Sydney airport must be made now," he said.

Camellia. Opposition to waste facility

A proposal by the German waste management and recycling company, Remondis, to build a huge waste treatment plant on a seven-hectare site at Camellia once used by James Hardie to manufacture asbestos has outraged residents who say it threatens their safety. Remondis plans to build a commercial and industrial waste treatment facility, which would process up to 100,000 tonnes annually of commercial and industrial waste, and 50,000 tonnes annually of food and green waste. The estimated construction cost: $25 million.

North Ryde. Free access

Macquarie University will allow industry free access to some of its most cutting edge research and technology. Macquarie will join the fold of international universities beginning to offer their intellectual property (IP) free to industry for development, as part of the Easy Access Innovation partnership.

Moorebank. Facility on exhibition

The Department of Planning and Infrastructure has on public exhibition a development Sydney Intermodal Terminal Alliance (SIMTA), a consortium of Stockland, Qube Logistics and QR National, of 83-hectares of defence land at Moorebank to be developed in three stages. Qube has urged the NSW government to approve its plans before a rival federal government proposal. Qube’s terminal, estimated to cost $490 million, could be built by 2014, up to four years before the federal plan, and a little or no cost to taxpayers.

Parramatta. Economic forum at Opera House

Parramatta City Council will hold its second annual Parramatta Economic Development Forum, at the Opera House, on May 16. "Re-Thinking Sydney" will look at the structural and economic growth of Sydney in light of continuing population growth, the rise of new cities and centres, and the opportunity to recalibrate the way Sydney functions via the planning, transport and economic development resources of the broader city and government. “Following the success of the first forum in Parramatta in March 2011 we will again bring together an elite group of business, cultural and political interests for a high-level, interactive, invitation-only discussion on the future of Sydney,” council CEO, Dr Robert Lang, said.

Clyde. Shell's conversion plans

Shell’s proposal for the conversion of the Clyde Refinery would comprise conversion of Shell's Clyde Refinery site into a finished fuel import and converting crude oil tanks and feedstock product tanks into intermediate and finished product tanks in the eastern parts of the site, decommissioning, demolishing and removing existing crude oil processing and blending facilities and other tankage and other redundant infrastructure in the western part of the site, receiving finished product by pipeline from Shell's Gore Bay Terminal site; and distributing finished product by pipeline to Sydney Airport, to other company's terminals in Newcastle and Silverwater and to Shell's Parramatta Terminal for distribution via road.