Imagine a $2.6 billion – that’s right, billion – plan to transform Campbelltown city centre over the next 20 years into the biggest in the metropolitan area.
Imagine a bustling Queen Street with a huge community and justice precinct at one end and vertical university campuses at the other end.
Imagine Leumeah as a 21st century sport and entertainment hub with an aquatic centre and anchored by a Campbelltown Sports Stadium upgraded to boutique status.
Imagine a Bow Bowing Creek converted from a large stormwater drain into the Campbelltown central business district’s green-blue heart, a place within easy walking distance where workers can sit and unwind or to exercise. An artist’s impression is pictured above
Imagine a new business park stretching almost the entire length of Blaxland Road providing thousands of new jobs for local residents.
They are some of the projects included in Reimagining Campbelltown City Centre master plan, which will go on public exhibition for 90 days from April 20.
Councillors approved the master plan at council’s meeting held remotely on Tuesday night.
Liberal councillor George Greiss moved that the exhibition period be extended from the normal 28 day period to 90 days to allow residents plenty of time to go online to read the master plan and make a submission if they wish.
Covid-19 social distancing restrictions mean that residents cannot pop down to a library or the civic centre to read a printed version of the master plan.
However veteran councillor Paul Lake has suggested that residents who wish to read the master plan in print should be mailed a copy.
“Any resident who wants hard copy should ring council and ask for a hard copy to be mailed out,’’ he said.
Council says the master plan is the culmination of years of planning and engagement with community, industry and government.
It says the “evidence based’’ master plan will guide decisions of council to transform Campbelltown’s city centre into the economic, cultural and lifestyle capital of the Macarthur region and connect the region to the world.
Over the next three months, Council staff will engage with the community using a variety of different mediums, including a series of explanative videos, to showcase the master plan and detail how it will benefit the residents of today and the future.
“This master plan puts the task to government and commercial sectors to work together and achieve a new standard for our city centre,” Mayor George Brticevic said.
“Unlike any of its kind, this master plan has crunched the numbers to show how the delivery of open spaces, the urban design theme and infrastructure can positively influence employment, lifestyle and the sustainability of our city and its community within the next 20 years,” Cr Brticevic said.
“It will ensure that development in Campbelltown is done with one vision in mind and will in fact, enhance our existing infrastructure, support our green spaces and heritage sites that already make our city a great place to live,” he said.
“We are proactively moving forward and grabbing the future in our own two hands so that we are able to shape the types of industry and development that will create a vibrant economic future for our city and our next generation of residents.
“Together we are experiencing an unprecedented period of disruption in our lifetimes but it is important that we continue the important work such as Reimagine Campbelltown that will provide certainty to industry and let them know that we are open for business before and after this crisis subsides.
“This master plan will be the catalyst for city-shaping projects in Campbelltown and we will continue to engage with residents so that everyone has a say in our shared future.”
The master plan sets out six growth pillars which are representative of the opportunities to enhance the features which make Campbelltown a vibrant and liveable city.
These pillars are: Confident and Self Driven, Connected Place, Centre of Opportunity, No Grey to be Seen, City and Bush and The Good Life.
Council says work on city shaping projects has already begun with the development of region wide projects like the Campbelltown Billabong Parklands at Apex Park in Bradbury and the recent MOU with Western Sydney University to explore campus site options within the city centre.
