Campbelltown. Business park needed

"We need a large business park in Campbelltown but government's got to do its part by moving some of its bodies out here to the outer suburbs. If they don't they're only going to create more traffic going to the city." Mayor, Paul Lake, said.

Region. Business parks a priority

Professor O’Neill, director of the Parramatta-based UWS Urban Research Centre, said the overall success of the Sydney economy depended on the performance of the Western Sydney regional economy, and infrastructure investment new business and employment parks should be a priority. “Without efficient infrastructure, job availability will fall, investment in new industries will stagnate and opportunities for migrants will diminish,” he said. Professor O’Neill said recent experience showed firms would move to Western Sydney when quality employment lands were created. “Norwest and Sydney Olympic Park are excellent examples of the jobs creation potential that comes from quality business parks. It is a shame that Western Sydney’s next park is not yet ready to go,” He said the most alarming investment shortfall was in public transport.

Bosses catering to staff wants

Staff from generation Y has expectations of business parks having everything they need within short distances and companies are catering to these expectations to attract and hold employees. Jacqui Valet, Jones Lang LaSalle’s, manager commercial leasing, Parramatta, said bosses were putting themselves in the shoes of their prospective employees. “It’s all about flexibility. So companies are putting in gyms and crèches. People are looking for a lifestyle as much as a job,” she said in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Competing yet complementary

Business parks in the vicinity of Parramatta, such as Norwest, Macquarie Park, Rhodes and Sydney Olympic Park, compete with Parramatta in the commercial office market yet are complimentary to the city, according to the Parramatta City Centre Plan, approved by the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, in December.

Parramatta "is situating itself as a business service centre for the other centres with the provision of financial and legal services, and potentially culture and entertainment," the document said.