Fairfield. New business park proposed

The Western Sydney Parklands Trust proposes the development of a site to be known as the Horsley Drive Business Park. The trust seeks approval for a staged development located at the corner of The Horsley Drive and Cowpasture Road, Wetherill Park, in the Fairfield local government area. The site, located immediately adjacent to the existing Smithfield-Wetherill Park Industrial Area, currently comprises 18 lots with a total combined area of approximately 21 hectares. The trust owns the majority of the land within the proposed application area with the exception of one lot which remains in private ownership.

Wetherill Park. Business park proposal

The Western Sydney Parklands Trust proposes a staged development of the Horsley Drive Business Park, located at the corner of The Horsley Drive and Cowpasture Road, immediately adjacent to the existing Smithfield-Wetherill Park Industrial Area. The site forms part of a larger strategic corridor known as the Western Sydney Parklands (WSP) which extends from Quakers Hill in the north to Leppington in the south. The WSP covers parts of the three local government areas of Blacktown, Fairfield and Liverpool. The Horsley Drive Business Park will be wholly contained within the Fairfield local government area. The proposal is on public exhibition until August 27.

Blacktown. Council objects to proposal

Blacktown City Council officers have advised the Department of Planning and Infrastructure of its initial objection the proposed 34-hectare Eastern Creek Business Hub, at Rooty Hill, as this type of development is completely out of scale and character with the surrounding area and will adversely affect the commercial viability of existing established centres in the vicinity. The concept proposal, to be discussed at the council meeting on May 2, includes convenience and bulky goods retail, a motel and pubic space.

Region. New business parks proposed

The Western Sydney Parklands Trust has made a submission to the Department of Planning & Infrastructure for business parks at Eastern Creek and Horsley Drive. The sites could attract more than $200 million private capital investment and provide more than 1100 full time jobs and a further 750 construction jobs, according to Suelleen Fitzgerald, director, of the Western Sydney Parklands Trust. The Eastern Creek site, in the Blacktown LGA, would target retail business, while the Horsley Drive site, in the Fairfield LGA is for high-tech businesses.

Marsden Park. First tenants in 2012

The first tenants in the 256-hectare Sydney Business Park are expected to move in by 2012. The park is part of the 551-hectare Marsden Park industrial precinct, which will become on of Sydney‘s largest masterplanned commercial, industrial, bulky goods and residential communities. It is being developed by the Wearn, Singh and White families’Marsden Park Developments, on land owned by the private company, Ganian.

Norwest. Business park a 'hot spot'

With the state coalition government pledging to fast-track the North West Rail Link, business along the corridor is expected to boom. One hot spot will be Norwest Business Park, which will have its own railway station on the Epping to Rouse Hill line, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

South West. Tenants for new business park

The $100 million Central Hills Business Park in the heart of the South West Growth Centre has secured a $12.5 million, 13,500-square-metre Woolworths hardware, in the 45-hectare business park on Camden Valley Way, Camden Hire, Wisdom Homes and a civic engineer and haulage contractor, TRN, are other tenants. Dart West Developments is developing the park and creating the nearby Gregory Hills housing community. More than 250,000 people are expected to move into the area in the next 40 years.

Region. Successful business parks

Western Sydney has demonstrated success in establishing and building successful business park environments, notably at Norwest Business Park and Sydney Olympic Park, according to a UWS report, North-West and Central-West Employment Strategies. "These parks have been responsible for the generation of a large number of high-end professional and business services employment. As a consequence there are informed calls for the development of new large-scale business park capacity in the region," the report said

Riverstone. $1 billion business park

Premier Nathan Rees has announced plans for a $1 billion business park, at Riverstone West. The project has the potential to provide 8300 jobs in the planned business park and a further 3700 jobs in light and general industrial areas. The 16-hectare business park would contribute up to 250,000 square metres of commercial floor-space and include up to 500,000 square metres of industrial and light industrial floor-space. It will be located next to the rail line and there are plans for a new road to improve access to the M7 and Windsor Road. The draft plan will be on public exhibition.

Occupancy tight in business parks

Knight Frank’s research shows the four major business parks – Macquarie/North Ryde, Homebush/Rhodes, Norwest and Mascot – had a vacancy level of 8.3 per cent, down from 8.7 per cent last year. The strongest performer was Macquarie Park where the rate fell from just under 8 per cent to 6.1 per cent. Macquarie also had the highest gross rent at $370 per square metre. In total, 207,000 square metres was added to the four parks.