The seven key projects Sydney needs to keep moving forward

BRADFIELD ORATION: Business and industry leaders have identified seven major infrastructure projects they say will keep Sydney on top of its game. See the list.

The seven key projects Sydney needs to keep moving forward

A new light rail down Parramatta Road to help transform dilapidated businesses and used car yards into medium-density Paris style apartment blocks is among seven key infrastructure projects which will keep Sydney moving forward, business and industry leaders say.

The Minns government has also been urged to fast-track and extend new key metro lines, reconsider plans to dig a road tunnel under the Blue Mountains, and move to droughtproof Sydney’s drinking supplies by pursuing purified recycled water.

Ahead of The Daily Telegraph’s Bradfield Oration, heavyweights of business and industry in have identified their main priorities for keeping Sydney moving forward, including major transport projects and new routes to ship freight.

An enclosed arena at the Entertainment Quarter is also on the list of projects Sydney needs, to prevent concertgoers and chart topping artists from getting drenched during performances.

Business leaders yesterday warned the Minns government against cancelling any projects already under construction, with the Business Council of Australia (BCA) calling for “rigorous long-term planning” to guide future decisions.

Here’s the seven projects you need to focus on, Mr Premier.

“We’ve seen what happens when governments stop planning and stop building, and we don’t want to go back there,” BCA chief executive Bran Black said.

“Good long-term planning means thinking about what kind of infrastructure is needed to accommodate the economic growth which keeps a growing population in jobs.”

Parramatta Road and housing

The Daily Telegraph revealed on Monday that arterial roads like Parramatta and Victoria Roads have been earmarked as a likely location for new midsized apartment blocks as part of a ‘French Revolution’ in housing supply.

Overhauling Parramatta Road from a 23 kilometre traffic jam into a revitalised high street serviced by a new light rail route would be the best way to support new medium density housing in place of used car yards and abandoned shops, industry and business leaders said yesterday.

“Urban renewal beginning with Parramatta Road would result in achieving the long standing quest to rejuvenate Sydney’s first highway while adding at least 35,000 desperately needed housing units,” Business Sydney Executive Director Paul Nicolaou said.

Business Sydney’s “Three Roads” strategy, released last month, calls for a new light rail route connecting Parramatta Road to Green Square via central.

“Light rail would facilitate significant housing investment and population growth in these corridors,” the strategy said.

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou has backed the Parramatta Road plan. Picture: Richard Dobson

Mr Nicolaou said it would then be a “logical step” to rezone Victoria Road and the Great Western Highway from Parramatta to Penrith for medium density.

“The three roads combined could add a staggering 75,000 medium density housing units with a special emphasis on affordable homes for essential workers enabling them to live closer to where they work,” he said.

Committee for Sydney CEO Eamon Waterford said the idea made a “lot of sense” in the long term.

“You might as an interim measure do a rapid bus,” he said.

The proposal is just the latest in a string of plans to revitalise the ageing Parramatta Road, none of which have come to fruition.

Eamon Waterford says the idea makes sense.

Metros, rail and roads

After a group of high powered sports executives urged the Minns government to extend the $25 billion Metro West line to Moore Park, there are now calls to extend the public transport link further into the south eastern suburbs.

Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest called for extra stops to be added to “unlock the potential for housing supply through the redevelopment in Zetland, Kingsford, Maroubra, Malabar, and Long Bay,” as first proposed by Morris Iemma in 2008.

CEO of NSW Urban Taskforce wants more stops to be added.

A final decision on the future of the Metro West project is due within days.

Premier Chris Minns cast the future of Metro West into doubt after he won the election when he ordered a review of the project amid major cost overruns.

The project could be delayed, or more stops added, in order to make it stack up.

Former Transport Minister David Elliott, who is now CEO of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia, called for the Minns government to fast-track delivery of a planned metro line from Tallawong in the North West to St Marys, while it can still acquire land cheaply.

David Elliott called for the Minns government to fast-track delivery of a planned metro line from Tallawong in the North West to St Marys. Picture: Richard Dobson

Western Sydney University Pro-Vice Chancellor Andy Marks said the first priority for the government should be to “clear the books” on public transport projects already in the pipeline.

He said the next “game changer” would be transport links that unlock “the outer south west,” like Liverpool, Campbelltown, Camden and Oran Park.

“They’re the areas where the lion’s share of growth is going to occur,” he said.

“it’s just so under-served in terms of transport infrastructure.”

“I would be looking at connecting out the out of Southwest with other parts in Western Sydney, you’ve got to connect the west with itself,” he said.

Mr Marks also reiterated calls for very fast rail linking major population areas like Newcastle and Campbelltown.

The Committee for Sydney said a new rail line dedicated to moving freight from the new Western Sydney Airport is vital to get trucks of the road and move an expected 41 million tonnes of freight in 2041.

“Right now there’s no freight train line between the new Western Sydney Airport and the rest of the freight network,” Mr Waterford said.

Covered stadium

Drenching rain which left concert goers soaked during an Elton John performance in January reignited the argument for Sydney to get an enclosed stadium for major sporting and entertainment events.

Entertainment Quarter chairman Tony Shepherd was among those calling for a retractable roof at Accor Stadium, when he was the boss of VenuesNSW.

Tony Shepherd called for a retractable roof at Accor Stadium. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Mr Nicolaou has also called for an all-weather stadium, while Chugg Entertainment founder Michael Chugg has called for any new stadiums built in Sydney to have roofs.

Blue Mountains tunnel

Before the election, the now-Premier said that Labor would ditch plans to build a billion-dollar tunnel under the Blue Mountains from Blackheath to Little Hartley.

The tunnel had been planned by the Coalition as part of the Great Western Highway upgrade.

Mr Marks said a “better link over the Blue Mountains” would be a crucial way to link Sydney to Western NSW, encouraging more development in regional parts of the state.

Professor Andy Marks is a fan of the tunnel.

Recycled Water

Industry and business leaders spoken to by the Telegraph were united in calling for an overhaul of Sydney’s water supply, to protect Sydneysiders from future drought.

That could involve using recycled water for everything except drinking water, or even adding purified recycled wastewater into the drinking supply, as in other major cities.

“The only way we’re going to have enough water is if we can treat effluent,” Business Western Sydney’s David Borger said.

“We’ve got to have that debate in the community.”

Originally published as The seven key projects Sydney needs to keep moving forward