CEO Sets The Challenge For The City

20 Mar 2009

New Chief Executive Officer of Parramatta City Council, Dr Rob Lang, today outlined the challenges facing Sydney’s second CBD if it is to transform into a major metropolis and the key commercial, cultural and tourism hub of Western Sydney.

“The State Government’s blueprint for Parramatta anticipates that 30 new city skyscrapers will be built over the next 17 years to house the expected growth in commercial activity alone,” Dr Lang said today at the Parramatta State of the City address hosted by the Council and local Chamber of Commerce.

“But continuing to transform Parramatta into the capital of our Western Sydney region, will take more than nice words in a glossy planning document. Civic Place, our rejuvenation development plan for the heart of the city, is just the starting point for the required big projects of significant public and economic benefit” he said.

Presenting to a packed Sebel Ballroom, Dr Lang put down eight challenges for the Council, the business community as well as the State and Federal Governments in ensuring Parramatta has the economic stimulus, employment growth, targeted planning, transport infrastructure and natural resources to realise the agreed vision for Parramatta.

“Our city is the gateway to Australia’s third largest economy, with Western Sydney already generating an estimated $100 billion a year and housing 30 percent of Australia's top 500 companies. With 30,000 new jobs slated for the CBD of Parramatta by 2030, there is much more to do if we are to deliver this anticipated growth.” said Dr Lang.

“Thirty new skyscrapers alone is easier said than done, effectively requiring us to complete the equivalent of three Civic Places in the next 21 years,” he said.

“Such exponential growth in Parramatta will not only bring new employers, but an increased residential population in the city centre creating increased economic activity and other spin-off benefits. But managing this increased density makes the State Government’s ‘so so’ responses to our lobbying for serious infrastructure projects, such as integrated public transport, even more urgent,” he said.

“If the West Metro, for example, becomes a reality, allowing new opportunities for development over new stations between Sydney and Parramatta, great care must be taken to ensure that the development here is sensitive, well-designed and compatible with community expectations.”

“We need to attract workers to live in an attractive city, to provide the appropriate transport for people to get here and to transform our City’s day and night-time economies.  And it all starts with Civic Place – our landmark project which must begin this year,” he said.