PARRAMATTA ROAD TO BECOME A VIBRANT URBAN CORRIDOR

Traffic-choked Parramatta Road will become Sydney’s new boom corridor under an urban transformation strategy featuring 27,000 additional homes and 50,000 extra jobs with impressive community facilities and green spaces.

Planning Minister Rob Stokes released the Parramatta Road transformation blueprint today and announced $198 million for local projects – from urban plazas and new open space to cycleways – to kick-start the corridor rejuvenation.

He said the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy is the final plan, following three years of work and collaboration with local communities, to breathe new life in the corridor from Granville to Camperdown.

“The strategy is a joint vision for revitalisating one of our city’s most interesting urban corridors, which has been overwhelmed by heavy traffic, excessive noise and declining commercial spaces for years,” Mr Stokes said.

Mr Stokes said the completion of WestConnex, removing up to 50,000 vehicles a day including 10,000 trucks from Parramatta Road, offered an extraordinary opportunity to facelift a neglected part of Sydney’s west.

The transformation strategy devised by UrbanGrowth NSW in collaboration with state agencies and councils along the corridor provided a range of housing types, sizes and prices to cater for families, students and older people.

The 30-year blueprint will unlock $31 billion worth of development in the eight precincts along the 20km corridor.

The $198 million Urban Amenity Improvement Plan would deliver projects identified in partnership with councils, including new open space and plazas, new cycle paths, new playing fields and streetscape improvements along Parramatta Road.

The corridor precincts will have 66 hectares of new open space, linear parks and links along watercourses and infrastructure corridors. 33 km of new and upgraded walking and cycling links are also proposed. New education, health and community facilities also will be provided to support the corridor’s growth.

“The $198m package for local amenity improvement will stimulate transformation and make an early and tangible difference to the physical appearance of the corridor,” Mr Stokes said.

To help implement the strategy and ensure change and growth occurs in a staged and coordinated manner, a supporting Implementation Plan identifies the priority areas for rezoning and identifies the infrastructure required to support land use change.

At least two dedicated public transport lanes will be provided on Parramatta Road, including a commitment to investigate a rapid bus service, or an alternative public transport solution will be provided in the area that is superior.

Another 56,000 people will live in the corridor in 27,000 new homes by the end of the 30-year strategy. A proposal for up to 40,000 new homes in earlier drafts were reduced in number following an extensive community consultation process.

Member for Drummoyne John Sidoti said the consultation on two earlier draft versions had generated more than 3,700 responses.

“All feedback received has been considered when preparing the strategy,” Mr Sidoti said.

“It’s plain to see this corridor is in desperate need of renewal, and the community made this very clear through consultation, with 97 per cent of respondents agreeing that the corridor needs to be revitalised,” he said.

The strategy includes design guidelines to ensure that new development will protect and be sensitive to the local character and heritage of established neighbourhoods.