Prue Car will cut red tape to get grounded ‘aeroflopolis’ flying for business

Acting Premier Prue Car has conceded the government needs to get its “skates on” and start building the long promised aerotropolis in Western Sydney.

Acting NSW Premier Prue Car. Picture: NCA Newswire /Gaye Gerard

Acting Premier Prue Car has conceded the government needs to get its “skates on” and start building the long promised aerotropolis in Western Sydney.

And she vowed to sweep aside bureaucratic red tape after disappointment at the lack of progress led the innovation precinct to be rebranded the ”aeroflopolis”.

Ms Car said “there is no doubt we’ve got to get our skates on” to ensure the promised high tech precinct is not left behind when the new international airport opens in 2026.

“We will be moving as quickly as possible. We have a budget coming up next year. We will be making investment in the airport and the infrastructure around the airport, the public transport to and from the airport, to make sure that these opportunities are realised,” she said.

Almost 40 companies including international giants Siemens, BAE Systems, Hitachi and Mitsubishi have signed Memorandums of Understanding with the NSW Government to become key stakeholders in the precinct.

But in the six-and-a-half years since Global defence and aerospace company Northrop Grumman became the first MOU signatory the Western Parkland City Authority (WPCA) has only managed to start work on a visitor’s centre, described as a “shed with a fancy pergola”, which will not be completed until 2024.

Ms Car blamed much of the delay on bureaucratic red tape inherited from the previous government.

“The Western Sydney Parklands authority was tied up in bureaucratic red tape and moving it over to reporting to just one minister, the planning minister under the planning department, means that things will be happening more quickly,” she said.

The WPCA has been criticised for failing to deliver on its 2022 blueprint to fill the gaps in infrastructure and services to create 200,000 new jobs and 184,55 homes in “the most green connected and advanced City in the Indo-Pacific region”.

Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue chief executive Adam Leto echoed the concerns of businesses that the WPCA was failing to deliver on its promises and was not providing clear communication on time frames when land would be available.

“At the moment, the signals that the region and potential investors are receiving from government at both levels aren’t particularly reassuring. They want to know that the commitment to deliver the aerotropolis is as strong as it once was,” Mr Leto said.

He echoed concerns that the entire precinct could become a giant industrial estate of warehouses rather than the high tech, innovation precinct and space hub that was promised when major companies signed up.

“The Aerotropolis was always intended to act as the engine room for jobs growth. We can’t afford to be sitting here in 10 years’ time talking about its ‘potential’ – especially when we’ve got major international companies knocking on our door wanting to invest right now,” he said.

“There are deals to be made, Government needs to just let the shackles off and spend more time looking globally, not just locally.”