The City Deal announced by the Federal and State Governments is a positive move that will manage growth and drive new jobs in Western Sydney, says the Urban Taskforce.
“The Urban Taskforce called for the first City Deal to be around Western Sydney so it is good news that Prime Minister Turnbull and NSW Premier Baird have announced that a City Deal will be established,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “We now need to know which local governments in Western Sydney will be involved. At the least this should be Liverpool and Penrith City Councils who are closest to the proposed Western Sydney airport.”
“The Western Sydney airport is the perfect catalyst for the development of a new city with homes and jobs. It will be essential that the 200,000 commuters who leave Western Sydney every week day for work are able to find jobs closer to home.”
“The recent report from Western Sydney University titled ‘Addressing Western Sydney’s Jobs Slide’ demonstrated that despite much rhetoric over recent years the number of jobs relative to population in Western Sydney is reducing. It will be important that specific job targets are set to give a focus to the decision making process in the City Deal.”
“It is essential that the City Deal comes with Federal Government funding to help establish essential infrastructure for the region. The most important infrastructure will be a fast rail connection between the Western Sydney Airport and the Sydney CBD via Liverpool and possibly Parramatta. It will also be important to have improved rail connections running north-south connecting Campbelltown, the Airport and Penrith.”
“The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the three layers of government to ensure that private sector knowledge is involved and to ensure that economic feasibility of development is realistic.”
