Sydney’s third CBD lands ‘additive’ manufacturing in western suburbs
Sydney’s ‘22nd century city’ has announced its partners in developing the Aerotropolis’ manufacturing precinct.
Australia’s first new city in a century is vying to become the nation’s centre of advanced manufacturing, but the developers of the space-age Aerotropolis have offered an olive branch to its neighbours, pledging not to rob surrounding suburbs of investment and industry.
Sydney’s “third CBD”, the under-construction suburb of Bradfield surrounding the forthcoming Western Sydney Airport, on Tuesday announced a collaboration between its Advanced Manufacturing and Research Facility, Western Sydney University and the CSIRO.
In recent months, Bradfield’s state government developer has faced a change in senior leadership, a series of delays and concerns from surrounding councils the new suburb would sap investment into their own city centres.
Bradfield Development Authority CEO Ken Morrison, speaking exclusively to The Australian, announced the development of the AMRF Connect hub, a crown jewel for the suburb’s employment future.
While the airport, Metro station and manufacturing centre are all set to open from 2026, Bradfield is slated to be a decades-long project around five times the size of Barangaroo, surrounding a Manhattan-style central park.
It has the distinction of being Australia’s first new city in a century, following the construction of Canberra in 1913.
The development is backed by $1bn investment from the NSW government, announced under former premier Gladys Berejiklian. It intends to deliver 10,000 new homes and 20,000 new jobs.
Mr Morrison said he did not want to rob the surrounding suburbs of investment and industry, and instead was focusing on expanding the scope of existing manufacturers and bringing new companies in from overseas.
“Success is not just to rearrange the deck chairs. Success is absolutely to provide Sydney and western Sydney with something that it doesn’t currently have,” Mr Morrison said.
“We’ll create something that will be additive, not competitive, to what’s already there.”
The two facilities at AMRF will focus on precision machines and technology development, respectively. Mr Morrison highlighted aviation, aerospace and semiconductor production as other areas for focus.
The BDA was known as the Western Parkland City Authority until June, when it was restructured after reports of sluggish development and $500m in unspent grants. Key responsibilities including the development of roads and residences were passed off to Infrastructure NSW.
BDA senior executive Ariel Ellis said he hoped the centre would also be an aid to manufacturers in surrounding suburbs like Liverpool, Penrith, Camden and Erskine Park.
“Businesses don’t have to be located in Bradfield to access AMRF services. Part of the role of AMRF Connect, and why we’re so happy to partner with Western Sydney Uni, is that they have a very deep reach into the existing manufacturing ecosystem across the region,” Mr Ellis said. “It is an outreach service for businesses.”
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