[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ampbelltown City Council says today will mark the start of a new era as it will unveil its “bold vision’’ in the NSW Parliament House in front of Sydney’s leaders in government, business, tourism, health, education and sport.
Campbelltown will announce that it aims to create “Australia’s Greenest City” as it kick-starts a new employment and investment initiative aimed at attracting the next generation of jobs, homes and lifestyle for one of the fastest growing economic regions in the country.
Mayor of Campbelltown, Cr George Brticevic said Re-Imagining Campbelltown, a draft strategy prepared by Deloitte in partnership with council, had been developed to help ensure the city, and broader Macarthur region, was positioned to leverage the growth, investment and opportunities of the future.
The draft report, compiled by one of the world’s leading consultants, suggests that Macarthur will be home to an additional 800,000 people within the next 25 years.
“In order to support this population explosion we need to start planning for the necessary infrastructure, jobs, and homes now,’’ Cr Brticevic said.
“Doing nothing is not an option.”
“Campbelltown will today put its hand up and say it’s prepared to meet these growth targets head on.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“We can’t afford to just sit back and wait for growth to overtake us – we need to get on with the job of planning and building a city that people will want to invest in, want to live, and want to visit.’’[/social_quote]
Council will soon commence a program of engagement with community, business, and government, seeking their feedback on the draft report, to ensure its future plans are communicated widely, to a variety of stakeholders.
“Campbelltown is uniquely placed to lead the development of some of NSW’s major centres. It is Sydney’s southern gateway, acting as a main city ‘hub’ for the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra, and is ideally situated between Sydney’s two international airports at Mascot and Badgerys Creek,’’ the mayor said.
“Its strategic location, combined with existing assets such as its vast natural spaces, and health and education clusters, as well as a rapidly growing population, makes the Campbelltown proposition like no other in Sydney.
“Today’s event is about putting Campbelltown on the map, and letting the rest of the state know that we have an important role to play in not just supporting the economic and social growth of Western Sydney, but NSW.”
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o address the fact that two thirds of employed residents leave the local area every day for work, and to attract, and retain skilled workers and business, the first stage of Re-Imagining Campbelltown is focused on the creation of more activated, connected and sustainable places, in Campbelltown CBD.
“The creation of green spaces, and inspirational places that showcase local arts and culture, will be at the forefront of our planning decisions, not an after-thought,” Cr Brticevic said.
“We want to build Australia’s greenest and most sustainable city – a place that is attractive for young professionals, that fosters innovation and encourages industry collaboration.
“The good news is that we have the structures in place to make it a reality.”
More than 70 per cent of Campbelltown is natural environment, and this will feature strongly in how the future design of the urban centre is developed in future stages of the project.
Other initiatives aimed at building an attractive, sustainable and prosperous CBD, include:
- Incentivising design-led excellence for public and private spaces
- Creating a ‘compact’ city – a 30-minute city where jobs, amenity and recreation is within short reach of everyone in Campbelltown and the wider Macarthur region
- Ensuring that the economy is centred around the principles of urban agglomeration – clustered, connected and collaborative businesses.
- Lead the delivery of authentic, low-resource, low carbon solutions, including the transition from car-dependence to the creation of more walkable, transport-connected communities.
- Provide more community facilities and public spaces that encourage healthy lifestyles and activity.
“With our massive spike in population, in addition to Australia’s biggest infrastructure project – the Western Sydney Airport – a stone’s throw away, there is a great opportunity to re-shape our city and capitalise on the public, and private sector interest that is happening across the region,” Cr Brticevic said.
“To do that we need to build a place that appeals to young millennials and to big corporates which are looking to leverage the opportunities, and growing talent pool that exists in Campbelltown and beyond.’’
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ampbelltown City Council will today also officially launch its strategic vision for a new health and education precinct, bringing together medical science, research and education, as a way to fuel jobs growth while also improving local health outcomes.
NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes MP will unveil the vision, which is aimed at providing world leading education and specialist community-based care in areas of paediatrics, Aboriginal health and gastro motility, through new science-based research and discovery.
“By assembling a critical mass of co-located research, teaching and clinical services, the Campbelltown Health and Education precinct can establish itself as one of Australia’s leading innovation districts,” Mr Stokes said.
“Education and health is no longer just about service delivery, they are important urban and economic drivers, particularly in the Macarthur region, where there is a strong agglomeration of health and education providers.”
Mayor Brticevic said, “health and education is at the centre of our growth story, and by building on our existing partnerships with Campbelltown Hospital, Western Sydney University, TAFE NSW and other industry leaders, we have an opportunity to develop a nationally recognised centre of research, medicine and health.’’
At 400 hectares, the Campbelltown Health and Education Precinct, which will include Campbelltown Hospital, Campbelltown Private Hospital, and the Macarthur Clinical School, is the largest of Western Sydney’s five health and education precincts.
There will also be opportunities for the precinct to connect to the nearby WSU campus, TAFE NSW campus, as well as potentially link to future business parks, and the city’s commercial and retail centres.
“In addition to the generation of more concentrated smart jobs, the health and education precinct will provide an environment that has the potential to act as a catalyst to attract industry and employment opportunities that ensure we can continue to develop and retain the next generation of local leaders,” Cr Brticevic said.
Lol think they are dreaming
This new plan appears to be another version of the original Three Cities Plan and it will require federal leadership as the Whitlam Government gave in the 70 ties. It appears to me that again the ordinary workers are being condemned to spending their time in their cars as it does not seem that public transport , mainly a rail system, does not seem to be high on the schedule everyone seems to be wanting to let the developers get in for a buck and now there is great pressure on the local bushland and wildlife even before the proposed big growth comes. I hope the great plans that we had are not sacrificed to the developers greed
The train line is there, where it is now -underneath the new buildings and park though
What bushland do you see now between Queen street and the bypass from Tim’s to Dumeresq Street?
These is only the old Showgrounds and Mawson park but I am sure the developers have their eyes and donations ready for these but in the original 3 cities plan it was envisioned that open space would be within a few minutes of the residents but already there is great pressure on the bush lands around Smiths Creek, Mt Gilead and every other area from developers to make a buck.