Full list: Blacktown’s biggest development projects for 2023 revealed
Major highway projects, sports centres, schools and animal rehabilitation centres are among the biggest projects coming to the Blacktown area in 2023. See the full list:
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Earmarked as a key area for growth as Sydney continues to expand over the next decade, the Blacktown LGA is subject to numerous large-scale projects – many of which will wrap up in 2023.
These include council-led projects delivering state-of-the-art sports facilities to infrastructure renovations promising to make the Western Sydney resident’s commute quick and easier.
As new residents continue to pour in, school upgrades promise replacements to ageing demountable classrooms, replacing them with new state-of-the-are learning and trade facilities.
These nine projects will change the face of Blacktown in 2023.
Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre (BARC)
The aptly named BARC, or Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre, is scheduled to open its doors in early-2023.
The $30 million “first-of-its-kind”, custom-built facility will replace Blacktown Council’s 40-year-old Animal Holding Facility on Flushcombe Rd in Blacktown.
Able to house 135 dogs and 230 cats, the Glendenning facility will offer a range of services never previously available in the old-fashioned council dog pounds, council staff said.
“The Animal Rehoming Centre has been designed to improve animal assessment efficiency, reduce holding times, increase adoption rates and decrease euthanasia rates by providing each animal the maximum opportunity to rehabilitate and be adopted back out to the community,” staff said.
“The facility, which will be the largest building of its type in the southern hemisphere, would be a one-stop shop for domestic animal welfare in western Sydney.”
BARC will also hold animals pending their adoption, providing a large reception and adoption area, staffrooms, catteries, kennels, vet facilities, function space, and exercise yards.
Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub (BEST)
The Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub, or BEST, promises to deliver a multidisciplinary, science-based approach to community health and sports performance when it opens in mid-2023.
Based within the Blacktown International Sports park Sydney, the new $100 million sports centre will feature “academy-style” accommodation for 100 guests, ensuring athletes and their teams can optimise their training.
The facility will also feature a range of sporting and “back-of-house” facilities, including rectangular synthetic and turf pitches, a strength and conditioning gym, cafe and meeting spaces, and a neighbourhood health hub offering medical services to the local community.
A sports medicine clinic and physical literacy area will also provide a space for people of all ages to improve their health through movement, while physiology laboratories – including an environmental chamber, biomechanics laboratory, and 60m indoor analysis track will aid science-based methods.
WestConnex M4-M8
Construction of the new WestConnex M4-M5 Link project is due to open this Friday.
Once complete, the 7.5km underground “mega tunnel” will connect the two motorways, providing a link between Haberfield in Sydney’s inner west with St Peters, near Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.
The NSW Government claims the upgrade will help cut travel times by up to 40 minutes between Western Sydney and Sydney’s busy international departure point.
In late-2022, Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward said the government was in the final stages of one of the most significant road infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Australia.
“Once complete, the tunnels will significantly improve connections between west and southwest Sydney, reducing travel times into the city for Western Sydney residents,” Ms Ward said.
“This is all about making a real difference to people’s daily lives, with our government committed to providing them with the transport connections they need to move quickly and safely across our city.”
The new link will also connect to the Rozelle Interchange by the end of 2023, marking the completion of Australia’s largest road infrastructure project, WestConnex.
The project will also include future links to the Western Harbour Tunnel, Sydney Gateway and the M6, to better connect communities across the city and improve freight routes, Ms Ward said.
Sunnyhold Rd bus flyover and Doonside Station Upgrade
Transport for NSW plans to wrap up construction in 2023 on two major Blacktown area infrastructure upgrades: The Sunnyholt Rd busy layover and the Doonside Station Upgrade.
Construction of the new bus layover facility at Sunnyholt Rd and Gordon St started in September 2022.
TfNSW said the facility is needed to provide additional bus holding capacity to improve the reliability and efficiency of bus services while easing congestion for all road users.
The bus layover area will have the capacity to hold 11 buses, with facilities for driver’s including a lunchroom and toilets. The area will not be accessible to the public.
Meanwhile, the Doonside Station upgrade will provide a station precinct that is accessible to those with a disability, limited mobility, parents and carers with prams, and customers with luggage, TfNSW said.
The upgrade will include four new lifts connecting the station entrance to the existing footbridge and station platforms, as well as new stairs, accessible parking and toilets, and bicycle parking.
Galungara Public School
The second stage of the $54 million Galungara Public School upgrade is due to conclude this year, with the NSW Department of Education promising the new works will deliver fit-for-purpose learning spaces for the growing population of Sydney’s northwest.
Work on the project’s second stage kicked off in March 2022, and will include 20 new learning spaces, two additional covered outdoor learning areas, and two new multipurpose game courts.
The developments will also be accompanied by landscaping works.
Staged construction of the Schofield school began in 2020 following approval from the Blacktown Council.
In that year, the school opened with core facilities, planning documents reveal, including a library, hall, basketball courts, admin and staff buildings, as well as 19 “home bases” for 600 students.
When work on the second stage is complete, the documents reveal the school will host 1000 students.
In the future, work will also get underway on two new building blocks and a new bus pick-up spot.
Formerly known as the Alex Avenue Public School, the site was renamed following development approval.
Vocational Education and Training facilities at Seven Hills High School
Work on a new specialist vocational training facility at Seven Hills High School got underway in September 2022, with construction of the $34 million building due to be completed in 2023.
Established as part of a 2019 election commitment, the project aims at providing students with skills, support, and access to trades and vocational pathways to enable them to succeed in the “21st century”, according to the NSW Department of Education.
The facility will cater to students studying health and community services, construction – electrotechnology and plumbing – and supply chain needs including transport, logistics, and warehousing, as well as business and financial services.
Glenwood High School
The promised upgrades to the Glenwood High School set to wrap up this year will not only provide improved education but will support a growing community, according to the NSW Department of Education.
The upgrades include a new three-storey building replete with 47 learning spaces.
Additionally, there will be a new single-storey performing arts centre, refurbished “block A” ground floor, and refurbishments to blocks “E” and “J”, planning documents reveal.
According to the documents, the northwest Sydney school area is projected to experience a student capacity shortfall of about 3100 students by 2036, as the region swells.
The upgrades will help the high school increase its capacity during that time frame, documents reveal.
John Palmer Public School
The $35 million redevelopment of John Palmer Public School in The Ponds will deliver eight new learning spaces and upgraded admin and staff facilities when work wraps up this year.
Delivered by way of a new three-storey building, the upgrades will “formalise” twenty existing demountable classrooms – a common sight in many of northwestern Sydney’s ballooning public schools.
The project will also include a new learning support unit, purpose-built library, upgraded school hall, and new utility and landscaping works, planning documents reveal.
The Ponds, in particular, will see a shortfall in student capacity of nearly 500, the documents state, with work on the school intended to boost capacity ahead of 2036.
Once work is complete, the former demountable classrooms will be removed.
Rooty Hill Materials Recycling Facility
It may not be glamorous, but when complete the Rooty Hill Material Recycling Facility is promised to help attract advanced manufacturing and innovation to the Blacktown area.
Due to wrap up in 2023, the project will feature a new facility able to process paper, cardboard, glass, aluminium, plastic, and steel, planning documents tendered to the Minister for Planning reveal.
“The site will be designed for yellow lidded bins and Container Deposit scheme,” documents state.
“Co-mingle materials to be processed are to include paper, cardboard, glass, and aluminium.
“This plant will be designed to have future capability to accommodate cardboard and recyclables materials from commercial and industrial customers.”
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