Business parks have the capacity to attract a variety of high tech, value-added industries and business to further the diversity of the economic, employment and skills-base of the region,
More are needed, particularly in Sydney’s south west, according to a report commissioned by the Parramatta-based Regional Development Australia- Sydney (RDA-S).
The RDA-S report said role of the region’s extensive employment lands – providing space for manufacturing, transport and logistics etc – be expanded to include areas for business and technology parks.
“Business and technology parks are essential to the future of Greater Western Sydney for not only their employment potential but for the fact that they will drive investment growth,’ said the RDA-S’s Employment Lands Policy Position report.
Not only do business parks attract provide jobs for professionals and managers, they offer employment densities of up to 175 persons per hectare, compared to a warehouse and logistics centre which may only have 20 persons per hectare.
This is significant given estimates that 200,000 Western Sydney residents daily work out of the region; one which could have a deficit of some 300,000 jobs in coming decades - ie fewer jobs then the number of workers.
The report noted that current business parks – Norwest, Macquarie, Sydney Olympic and Rhodes, and proposed business parks – Sydney Business Park at Marsden Park and one in Penrith – were located north of the M4, between Penrith and Sydney Olympic Park, with none in the southern part of the region..
The current disparity in employment opportunities for white collar and technology positions on the north west must be addressed regarding the provision of business and technology parks in the south west, in the interests of access and equity, the report noted.
“These are not easy to locate but there are suitable large scale land holdings in the region which could lead the conversion to higher density employment lands,” the report said.
The Penrith Business Alliance (PBA) is concerned that employment opportunities remain fixed in the north and north west and it was now time “to concentrate on the supply of new business parks in the south and south west corridor to ensure the principles of the State Plan- Jobs closer to Home – are successfully addressed.
Unless this was achieved there would be a continued imbalance of necessary white collar and professional/administrative position in the south-west sector of Sydney.
The Macarthur Regional Organisation of Councils (MACROC) and the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) echoed the PBA’s comments.
The report said Western Sydney with its various university campuses, medical facilities and science based industry has the potential to support other higher intensive jobs growth in applied research, logistics, business technology, education and medical industries.
This could be accomplished through the expanded definition of employment lands to incorporate business and technology parks.
