Proposal to reinvent Camellia-Rosehill precinct with 45k new homes and a man-made beach on Parramatta River

A new masterplan could lead to 45,000 homes and a man-made beach being built in a new western city being proposed by landowners.

A stretch of dreary industrial land along the Parramatta River would be transformed into 20,000 new homes with a man-made beach, in a proposal set to add more heft to discussions about converting Rosehill Racecourse into a new city.

The major overhaul of the riverside at Camellia is being touted by heavyweight developer Billbergia and three other landholders, including the Australian Turf Club.

The group, named the Rosehill Camellia Landowner Alliance (RCLA), is prepared to pump $25 billion alongside investors into the revamp.

Their plans include a 350m man-made beach, inspired by Brisbane’s Southbank beach, as well as 20,000 new homes along the 1.5 kilometre riverfront, linking with 25,000 new homes touted to be built on the racetrack at Rosehill.

The Rosehill Racecourse is the subject of an unsolicited proposal by the Australian Turf Club to the NSW Government, which would convert the track into a new precinct including 25,000 homes and a potential new Metro station along the Metro West line.

The total of 45,000 new homes would provide housing for 100,000 residents under the renewed pitch.

An artist's impression of how the new development along the Parramatta River, including 20,000 homes and a new urban beach, could appear. Photo: supplied

While a masterplan for the Camellia-Rosehill precinct has been mulled over for a decade, the potential addition of a Metro stop at the racecourse means a rejigged proposal is needed, according to Billbergia’s Rick Graf, the convener of the Rosehill Camellia Landowner Alliance.

Mr Graf said their proposal would turbocharge the building of thousands of new homes due to ownership of the land not being fragmented between hundreds of private homeowners.

“We’re saying to the government this is a unique opportunity – the land is already consolidated and not in the hands of hundreds of private householders,” he said.

An artist's impression of how the new development along the Parramatta River, including 20,000 homes and a new urban beach, could appear. Photo: supplied

“It’ll have the benefit of a Metro, a light rail and a ferry wharf. It’s a chance to do a visionary new masterplan for a city within a city that is walking distance from Parramatta Square and it deserves to have the best minds globally focused on this vision.”

Business Western Sydney chief David Borger said the proposal would use the riverside after 200 years of neglect.

“Brisbane is Australia’s best river city. There’s no reason we can’t transform this part of the Parramatta River into that,” he said.

“Parramatta River needs this. I think this is something that would excite the public of Sydney – if you can connect that swimming pool to cafes and restaurants like Southbank in Brisbane, that’s a winning combination.”

The Camellia waterfront currently. Photo: Supplied

While decades of industrial use have leeched contaminants into the ground around Camellia, an increase in housing would make it viable to remediate the area, Mr Graf said, comparing it to the company’s development of residential towers at nearby Rhodes.

“The Rhodes peninsula was far more polluted than Camellia. Now it’s a national award-winning residential precinct, because the density and heights have been able to justify the costs of remediation,” he said.

The combined Rosehill-Camellia precinct would stretch across 90 hectares, compared to the entire Barangaroo precinct which is 22 hectares.

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