A development application for the $36 million Sydney Zoo will be lodged with the Department of Planning and Environment later this year, but the ‘green light’ is expected to be a mere formality.
Located in Blacktown’s large-scale entertainment precinct, in Bungarribee Super Park, the zoo is the latest instalment in a growing roster of major attractions to call the city home.
Blacktown City’s Mayor, Councillor Stephen Bali says the reason local residents and visitors were enjoying an ever-expanding selection of leisure options was simple.
“Blacktown is the perfect location for a large scale attraction like the Zoo,” Cr Bali told Western Sydney Business Access.
“We not only have the space, but because we are on the intersection of the major north-south and east-west motorways, they are easily accessible. In a way, Sydney is coming to Blacktown and we are happy to entertain them.”
And it seems that when the good news starts in Blacktown, it just doesn’t stop.
The latest coup for Blacktown appears to be of the sporting kind, with a new deal that will foster stonger long-term ties with the region’s most successful sporting team, the Western Sydney Wanderers. It’s also developing key tennis facilities.
“We have just announced a deal that will make Blacktown the main venue for the Western Sydney Wanderers and we’re building a David Cup standard tennis centre that will be operating in early 2016,” Cr Bali said.
“Blacktown is one of Sydney’s fastest growing areas and we’re determined to maintain the momentum.”
An economic analysis by audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG estimated the tourist attraction would initially generate 59 full-time and 50 part-time positions in addition to 160 jobs being created during the construction phase and between 120 and 210 jobs once full scale operations commence.
KPMG also forecast the zoo would contribute around $45 million a year to the NSW economy and boost tourist spending by $3 million.
Sydney Zoo Managing Director Jake Burgess said the zoo will be a significant contributor to job creation particularly benefiting younger residents of western Sydney.
“The jobs created will be in a range of roles and industries. Importantly we will have a number of entry-level, flexible positions for young people seeking to join the workforce,” he said.
“Our brand will be widely recognised and working for us will represent a good start for young people.
“We are working proactively with Blacktown Council to maximise the number of roles provided to people from the local area.”
Cr Bali confirmed Council was working closely with Mr Burgess, with the aim to draw on the city’s rich cultural resources, with its 332,000 residents comprising 184 different nationalities and speaking 156 different languages.
"It has been a privilege to work with Sydney Zoo Managing Director, Jake Burgess and the Western Sydney Parklands Trust Director, Suellen Fitzgerald, to bring the project to this stage," Cr Bali said.
He said a zoo in the heart of Blacktown City was yet another reason why Sydney’s west was fast becoming NSW’s must-visit destination.
“It will be a cage free zoo with limitless horizons which brings visitors safely face to face with animals, making it a hugely successful attraction,” Cr Bali said.
Sydney Zoo would stands strongly alongside other large-scale entertainment venues in Blacktown City, including Wet ‘n’ Wild, Sydney’s only drive in movie theatre, Sydney Motorsport Park and the 2000 Sydney Olympics legacy venue, the Blacktown International Sportspark.
“Blacktown is fast becoming an entertainment epicentre,” the Mayor declared.
Earlier this month, NSW Environment Minister Mark Speakman announced the approval of the lease of a 16.5-hectare site earmarked for the new attraction.
“The proposed zoo, adjacent to Bungarribee’s new picnic and playgrounds, will be a popular new attraction to Western Sydney, bringing family fun, recreation and ecological education to visitors,” he said.
“And adding to the already great assortment of recreational activities available in the Western Sydney Parklands.”
“The focus on native animals and Indigenous culture will be a highlight, and it will illustrate the dramatic and compelling stories of the local Darug people,” Mr Speakman said.
“I’m not lion [yes, pun intended], when I say this zoo will create fantastic memories for hundreds of thousands of Sydney families every year.
“I’ll stick my neck out and predict the giraffes will be hugely popular, which is a tall order.”
He resisted the temptation to declare the government “wasn’t monkeying about” over plans for the zoo and refrained from any suggestion that visitors could get closer to the elephants by “making a trunk call”, but said the zoo was planned for launch in late 2017, subject to approval.
Sydney Zoo would be on par in size with Auckland and Perth zoos and twice Adelaide Zoo’s size, but would be smaller than Sydney’s not-for-profit Taronga Zoo which houses 3,500 animals in its 28 hectare harbour front location.
And it is also larger than the long-established Featherdale Wildlife Park a few kilometres away in Doonside, which doesn’t believe competition from the new zoo will threaten its business.
"Featherdale is a born and bred local in western Sydney so any investment into tourism into the area we welcome with open arms," its general curator Chad Staples told ABC Radio.
“Featherdale will do more than survive. We're an extremely successful business that the locals just love.”
He said there would unlikely be an impact because what Featherdale does, “we do better than anyone” and there were plans to expand its offering in the future.
Sydney Zoo is also in talks with Western Sydney University about potentially establishing a Centre of Excellence in Wildlife Conservation – a research facility housed on the Zoo site.
STORY by Anthony Stavrinos
