Dr Marks, Mulpha Norwest general manager Tim Spencer and The Hills Shire Mayor Michelle Byrne discussed the future of the Shire at a Sydney Hills Business Chamber innovation conference last week.

Dr Marks said he was certain that Norwest will be home to a university within the next 10 years, and he hopes it is WSU that is the one to pull it off.

“Without question, Norwest will have a university campus, we hope that it will be Western Sydney University but it could be a local or international university,” Dr Marks told the Times.

“A university will happen because of the scale the business park, universities are seeing the need to reach out into the community for collaboration.

“Universities will be setting up in local CBDs because there is a desire to be as accessible as possible.”

He said he was determined to see Norwest realise its ‘Silicon Valley moment’ and focus on producing a specialist business sector.

“Norwest is too big to ignore,” Dr Marks said. “Silicon Valley specialises in specific thinking, you can’t be a specialist at everything, so the challenge for the future of Norwest is to identify strength and weaknesses.”

Cr Byrne said she was excited by the idea of a university campus in the Hills.

“Tertiary education is the missing piece of the puzzle in the Hills, so to achieve that it would be an incredible opportunity for residents,” Cr Byrne said. “The Hills would be a place were we could live, work and pursue further education, there will be no reason to leave.

“It is great to have a vision for the future, but we have to deal with the issues of today that already exist such as congestion, density and housing affordability.”

Mulpha general manager Tim Spencer said the smart city’s innovation hub will be a place for business and education to establish specialist partnerships.

“We are always looking for ways to beat congestion and traffic issues across Norwest,” he said. “So we have partnered up with a ride-sharing company to find new ways to get cars off the road.

“There will never be a silver bullet to fix congestion, the Metro will help and so will ride-sharing, but we need to think of innovative ways fight congestion — such as traffic analysis that can change traffic light phases to meet demands on our roads.”

Future vision

Liftango have launched Norwest Connect — a ridesharing app to free up congestion across the business park.

Mulpha are inviting residents to join the smart city infrastructure and innovation committees.

Plans get The Greens light

PLANS for nine towers ranging from eight to 26 storeys tall will go on public exhibition in The Hills.

The high-rise residential and commercial towers, known as The Greens in Norwest Business Park, are the vision of developers Mulpha Norwest and will comprise 1040 homes at the precinct’s completion.

The proposal recently received NSW Planning Gateway approval and approval for a voluntary planning agreement from The Hills Shire Council.

Mulpha Norwest general manager Tim Spencer said the developer would commit almost $19 million towards the upgrade of existing infrastructure and the building of new infrastructure under the council’s direction.

“Mulpha’s voluntary planning agreement VPA has highlighted contributions to an extensive list of initiatives including smart poles to deliver lighting and security around Norwest Lake, Norwest Blvd intersection upgrades, passive and active sporting fields and parks as well as pedestrian and cycleway path upgrades,” he said.

“Mulpha’s design intent prioritised the creation of landscaped and public domain space to drive community interaction and wellness in design philosophies.

“The community has told us how important quality public spaces are, and we are thrilled to be delivering exactly that.”

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