Jobs must be the focus to grow our City’s commercial heart

City of Parramatta says the NSW Government’s build to rent (BTR) provisions could undermine the City’s bold jobs target for 150,000 new jobs by 2050.

Council wants the NSW Government to exempt the Parramatta CBD’s prime E2 Commercial Core zone from BTR provisions which it says are inconsistent with decades of planning for the CBD, moves to unlock more economic growth and the ability to capitalise on a potential high-speed rail station in Parramatta.

City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Martin Zaiter said the Parramatta CBD was of growing economic importance – not just to Parramatta but all of metropolitan Sydney.

“The Parramatta CBD is positioned to become the headquarters district of Australia’s next global city but only if we preserve its capacity to house more businesses and jobs,” Cr Zaiter said.

“We already have a number of BTR proposals in our prime commercial zone that we estimate, if approved, could collectively cost us the capacity for about 10,000 jobs, sending us backwards not forwards in realising our jobs target.

“We recognise the real pressures on housing in Sydney but Parramatta is playing its part in planning for both housing and jobs. We exceeded our previous housing target by six per cent and are on track to deliver our new zoning target of 19,500 new homes in the next five years.

“If we are going to protect and prioritise jobs anywhere, surely it makes sense to do so in our City’s commercial heart. The majority of our commercial capacity sits in an area that roughly equates to about 10 city blocks, so we need to safeguard every piece of land we have zoned for jobs.”

Cr Zaiter said the over station development for Sydney Metro West promised to deliver three new major commercial buildings in the Parramatta CBD that could generate more than 11,000 jobs – and called on the State Government to maximise their employment potential by preserving them for commercial use.

“We applaud plans for the Metro over station development to contribute three new major commercial towers in the CBD. But with build to rent applications on the rise in our commercial zones, we need assurance that these won’t change to build-to-rent apartments later down the track.”

“The site should also connect with a future high speed rail station, creating a new Grand Central in the heart of Greater Sydney and connecting Parramatta to the world. High speed rail would exponentially grow the number of people within easy reach of all Parramatta has to offer – jobs, education, healthcare, cultural events, sports and entertainment.

“This is a once-in-a-century opportunity for us to work together across all levels of government to ensure we realise Parramatta’s potential for connection and jobs.”