SBS Square proposal would see headquarters move from Artarmon to Campsie

A Sydney council is offering the federal government a concrete plan to steal SBS from the North Shore and bring it to Western Sydney.

The proposed new SBS site at Campsie being pushed by Canterbury-Bankstown Council.

It’s the bold plan to take Australia’s multicultural broadcaster and give it a more natural home — in the heart of ethnically diverse Western Sydney.

Canterbury-Bankstown Council is proposing the federal government move SBS and its 900 staff from its Artarmon base to Campsie and create a new cultural hub called SBS Square.

Former premier and federal foreign minister Bob Carr and Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour are behind the comprehensive plan.

“SBS is located presently in old-fashioned, monocultural Sydney,” Mr Carr told The Sunday Telegraph.

The council said the cost of building SBS Square with a new SBS HQ will be in the vicinity of $120 million, create almost 400 construction jobs and generate $85m for the Sydney economy.

Former premier and foreign minister Bob Carr (right) met Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour to discuss the proposed SBS site at Campsie.

It believes the sale of the current SBS site at Artarmon “could generate funds in the range of $70-90m to significantly offset the cost of building SBS Square”.

“This proposal would open up a whole lot of opportunities for jobs for people who can’t get to Artarmon,” Mr Asfour said.

“The Orion Theatre offers the opportunity to become a cultural museum.

“There is so much potential here and the council has the site. We can make this happen but we need the government to come along for the ride.”

Mr Asfour said the move would also bring a better mix of white collar jobs into Western Sydney, with the site to generate 20,000sq m of space.

“Our city has nearly 70 per cent of its residents who come from a non-English speaking background and that’s why we would be a perfect fit for Australia’s only multicultural broadcaster,” Mr Asfour said.

The Orion Theatre would form part of SBS Square.

The report was presented to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher last month.

It follows calls from Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue chief Christopher Brown, who wrote to Mr Fletcher in March urging him to move SBS to a suburb such as Bankstown.

Mr Brown also told the Telegraph last month that the ABC needs to get out of its Ultimo bunker and go to Parramatta.

A spokesman for Mr Paul Fletcher said: “The minister is on the record as supporting the location of our national broadcasters in areas that make them as responsive as possible to mainstream Australians.”

At present, SBS Studios at Artarmon deliver the overwhelming majority of SBS productions. Facilities include a large studio, a small studio, the SBS Newsroom, six broadcast/production studios, and two digital production suites.

It has been at Artarmon since 1993.

If successful, it would complete a clear out of television broadcasting from the lower north shore after Channel 9’s move from its Willoughby studios in November last year.

But it appears SBS is not ready to give up its leafy outlook. An SBS spokesman said: “The geographical location of our offices has no bearing on the services SBS provides”.

“We are yet to see any proposal for moving our premises that would be cost-effective, practical, or yield more value for the Australian public.”