Council approves construction of major developments

Published on 13 December 2018

Blacktown City Council has ‘Pressed the Go Button’ on the construction of two key projects in the transformation of Blacktown City into one of the leading cities in Australia.

Councillors voted on Wednesday night to move to the construction stage of the Warwick Lane Transformational Project in the Blacktown CBD and the construction stage of the International Centre of Training Excellence (ICTE) project at the Blacktown International Sportspark.

 Councillors also voted to allocate $76.5 million for the Warwick Lane redevelopment and $100 million for the ICTE.  The business cases for both projects underwent rigorous testing in line with the NSW Government’s capital expenditure review process for major projects undertaken by councils.

The unanimous votes of approval for the projects were welcomed on both occasions by applause from all Councillors.

The proposed Warrick Lane Precinct will be a modern mixed-use development anchored on a new public plaza to be built above an underground car park catering for 450 vehicles. The precinct will link seamlessly to Main Street and offer new retail and commercial opportunities in the CBD and the potential to house a university campus and new Council offices.

The ICTE will be a world-leading multi-sport facility providing high performance training, education, sports medicine, research, accelerated recovery and rehabilitation that will be available to everyone.

Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali MP said the vote by Council to move both projects to the construction stage was a huge milestone for the future of the whole Blacktown City community.

“Council conducted a very large Community Consultation and exhibition program in October and November on both projects and received overwhelming support from our residents and businesses,” Mayor Bali said.

“Council received a total of 171 written submissions on the projects. There were 98 submissions on the ICTE with 78 expressing strong support for the project, including 11 letters of support from national, regional and local sporting bodies,” Mayor Bali said.

“In the case of the Warrick Lane redevelopment, we received 40 written submissions with only 10 submissions expressing any form of negative reaction to the project.

“Through Council’s mail outs and an extensive media campaign, we reached out to about 400,000 people offering them the opportunity to have their say and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

“The ICTE and the Warrick Lane Precinct are both vital projects within our vision to transform Blacktown City into a modern metropolitan city of talent, a magnet for economic and social investment and growth.

 “We are building facilities that will be ‘elite for all’ – world class infrastructure that will benefit and be available to the whole community,” Mayor Bali said.

 Deputy Mayor Tony Bleasdale said; “Voting to construct these projects is the most important decision for Blacktown City in the last 50-years. The ICTE and the Warrick Lane development are to Blacktown what the Opera House and Darling Harbour are to Sydney.”

The $100-million ICTE project at the Blacktown International Sportspark involves the construction of a performance, health, recovery and research building, upgrades to infrastructure and sporting fields, and academy accommodation for 100 people.

Work in the first stage of the Warrick Lane development will commence with the erection of hoardings in Main St in February. The demolition of selected buildings between 81 and 95 Main St is due to start in April.

“While we would welcome any NSW and Federal Government funding support, Council has the financial capacity to undertake these projects with very minimal debt that can be paid off relatively quickly,” Mayor Bali said.

The International Centre of Sporting Excellence is due for completion in 2021 and the Warrick Lane Precinct first stage is planned for completion in 2020.