Region. Blacktown tops

Blacktown local government area had an estimated population of 307,000 last year, an increase of 8300 people on the previous year – the biggest increase in the state. Parramatta had an increase of 5100 people, Sydney 4500 and The Hills and Liverpool both 3400.

Parramatta. Population increases.

Department of Planning (DOP) statistics show the inner Parramatta statistical area (SLA), including the CBD, to be fastest growing area in the city, with a population increasing from 42,400 in 2006 to a projected 64,100 people, up 51.2 per cent, in the 30-year period, 2006-2036. With regard to the CBD, Parramatta City Council, in its Integrated Transport Plan for the Parramatta City Centre, has estimated the CBD population to be 7000, in 2009, with the planned growth to 20,000, by 2031, up some 186 per cent. The DOP’s projection for Parramatta’s north-east SLA is an increase from 43,800 to 57,900, up 32.2 per cent, in the 2006-2036 period. For the north-west SLA, the projection is an increase from 35,000 to 41,500, up 18.6 per cent, and an increase from 32,800 to 37,900 people, up 15.5 per cent, in the south SLA, over the same 30-year period.

Region. Projected population increases

Department of Planning figures show the greatest projected population in the Sydney metropolitan area is in the south-west, with an increase of 113 per cent. Sydney city, 60 per cent, and the north-west, 52 per cent The least projected growth in the metropolitan area is Sydney’s south region, 15 per cent, and the north east region, 18 per cent.

Region. Big increases in population

Six local government areas in Greater Western Sydney will have their populations increase by more than 50 per cent by 2036. They are Wollondilly, Camden, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Auburn and Baulkham Hills. Official projections obtained by The Daily Telegraph predicted Camden's population would explode by 390 per cent to about 250,000 people in 2036 as a massive development takes shape in the area. Liverpool would have the second biggest boom, almost doubling to 324,000. While many areas of the city, especially the southwest, have long been earmarked as high-growth areas, the size and scope of the boom in some areas is extraordinary. It also explains why the Government has focused its attentions on transport in the southwest rather than the northwest, the paper said.

Parramatta. Sydney's centre at Ermington

The population centre of Sydney remains in Ermington, in the Parramatta LGA, where it has been for more than a decade, according to ABS figures. Every lLGA in Sydney recorded a population increase in the year to June 30 last year, with Blacktown (6900 people), Parramatta and the Hills Shire (each with 4800 people) recording the largest increases in residents for the second consecutive year. The fastest growth rates were largely found in the inner west, with Canada Bay and Strathfield holding the first and third positions respectively. Auburn ranked second. The NSW population centre is located on the banks of the Hawkesbury River in the Hills Shire. ''Between June 2004 and June 2009, the centre moved approximately 1.2 kilometres east,'' the ABS found. Sydney’s population passed the 4.5 million mark for the first time.

Region. Population growth

Blacktown had the largest population increase of any LGA in NSW, in the year to June 2008, up 5300 people, followed by Parramatta, 4000 people. Large population growth also occurred in Baulkham Hills, 3300 people and Liverpool, 3200 people. Auburn experienced the fastest growth of any Sydney LGA, at 3.1 per cent, followed by Parramatta at 2.5 per cent.. Other LGAs with fast growth included Camden, 2.2 per cent, and Holroyd, 2.1 per cent. The population of the Sydney SD increased by 1.3 per cent to 4.4 million people. The Sydney SD represented around 63 per cent of the NSW population.