NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has unveiled a 20-year blueprint for Sydney's growth, describing the city's west as a treasure waiting to be tapped.
Sydney is expected to have an additional 1.3 million residents by 2031, as the population climbs to 5.6 million.
The government estimates 545,000 new homes will be needed to cope with the surge - a 17 per cent increase on the number forecast in 2010.
It hopes to create 625,000 extra jobs over the next two decades, up 33 per cent on old targets.
"We want to see 50 per cent of all new jobs created in western Sydney," Mr Hazzard said on Tuesday.
"This means people will work closer to where they live, cutting commute times and congestion."
The draft Metropolitan Strategy divides Sydney into nine areas - known as city shapers - which include corridors along Parramatta Road, Anzac Parade, and the North West Rail Link.
It imagines an enhanced role for Parramatta as Sydney's second CBD and a western Sydney employment area to be developed south of Mt Druitt.
Leppington, Rouse Hill, Prairiewood and Mt Druitt are listed as potential job centres in the west.
Mr Hazzard said the region was at the heart of the government's economic strategy.
"Sydney is in effect the Aladdin's Cave, but the part of the Aladdin's Cave that is the critical part is the west," Mr Hazzard told reporters.
"The west is where the treasure lies for people to tap."
He said the strategy would create a "liveable, connected city", with the government expanding housing and renewing established suburbs.
Mr Hazzard didn't say where new homes would be built, but said it was critical that homes be built where jobs were.
The plan is open for community consultation and will be on exhibition until May 31.
Greens MP David Shoebridge described it as a re-heated strategy that would repeat the former Labor government's mistakes.
No comments:
Post a Comment