Maximising opportunities to attract advanced manufacturing and innovation in industrial and urban services land

Table 4: Central City District's largest industrial and urban services precincts by local government area

Source: NSW Department of Planning and Environment 2017, Employment Lands Development Program 2017 Report, NSW Government, Sydney
Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Managing industrial and urban services land

Industrial activity and urban services are important to Greater Sydney’s economy and the nature of this economic sector is continuing to change, with emerging technologies and new industries with different requirements. Industrial land is evolving from traditional industrial and manufacturing lands, and freight and logistics hubs, into complex employment lands. This trend is consistent with other parts of Greater Sydney, particularly east of Parramatta.

There is growing pressure on industrial and urban services land to be converted to residential or retail uses. In the Central City District, this pressure is particularly strong in parts of GPOP in areas such as Rydalmere, Camellia, Silverwater and Auburn.

Industrial land in GPOP provides capacity for a range of activities that are critical to supporting population and jobs growth. This includes land for bus depots, production of building material, waste processing and water recycling.

As GPOP undergoes transition, careful planning will maintain capacity for a range of industrial activities that are fundamental to the function of the city. Planning will also provide assurance that industrial and urban services activities can coexist with existing and new development.

Future employment growth across all industries and urban services will require additional floor space, additional land, or both. Urban services are often less able to increase their floor space efficiency or locate in multi-storey buildings.

Research has identified a benchmark of three square metres of urban services land per person¹⁸. The research found that in Central City District, the per person amount exceeded the benchmark in 2016, and the per capita amount is anticipated to reduce between 2016 and 2036.

Principles for managing industrial and urban services land

Industrial land approaches shall be consistent with Figure 20 and for the Central City District are as follows:

Review and manage: The Greater Sydney Commission will review all industrial and urban services land under this approach to either confirm its retention (as described in the approach below) or manage uses to allow sites to transition to higherorder employment activities (such as business parks) and seek appropriate controls to maximise business and employment outcomes. The review will consider the current level of industrial and urban services land supply, the changing nature of industries and the transformation in the sector due to the impact of changing demand for land. In limited cases, conversion to other uses may be appropriate. In some locations, such as GPOP, specifically Camellia, Rydalmere and Silverwater, the safeguarding of industrial activities will be a starting objective. The Greater Sydney Commission will collaborate with other State agencies and councils and seek input from stakeholders as part of the review. This approach applies to the Cumberland, The Hills and City of Parramatta local government areas and the established areas of Blacktown Local Government Area (refer to Figure 20).

Retain and manage: All existing industrial and urban services land should be safeguarded from competing pressures, especially residential and mixed-use zones. This approach retains this land for economic activities required for Greater Sydney’s operation, such as urban services.

Specifically these industrial lands are required for economic and employment purposes. Therefore the number of jobs should not be the primary objective – rather a mix of economic outcomes that support the city and population. The management of these lands should accommodate evolving business practices and changes in needs for urban services from the surrounding community and businesses.

Where a retain and manage approach is being undertaken, councils are to conduct a strategic review of industrial land as part of updating local environmental plans.

There will be a need, from time to time, to review the list of appropriate activities within any precinct in consideration of evolving business practices and how they can be supported through permitted uses in local environmental plans. Any review should take into consideration findings of industrial, commercial and centre strategies for the local government area or the District. This approach applies to the North West Growth Area (refer to Figure 20).