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Western Parkland City Authority
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2020-21 Priority: Proactively and meaningfully engage with our stakeholders

Achievement: Connecting with our community

The Authority continued to connect with the Western Parkland City community during 2020-21. As activity ramped up, we established new hotline and email contacts for residents and landowners to find out more. We continued improving the content on our website, as well as its accessibility, and introduced updated subscription functions for people to sign up for regular Authority newsletters.

As noted earlier, the Authority also conducted extensive engagement with the community on the proposed naming of the Aerotropolis Core Precinct city centre. This included consultation with schools, the local Aboriginal community and residents of the Aerotropolis. Eight new industry partners

Achievement: Strengthening our relationship with industry partners

Over the course of the year, the Authority significantly strengthened its relationships with a broad range of industry partners interested in collaborating to deliver our ambitious vision for the Western Parkland City. This has included multiple workshops with partners to inform the development of the Authority's work. Collaboration focussed on a variety of areas including smart city technology, cybersecurity, sustainability and the circular economy. This collaboration will be invaluable to ensure that the design and delivery of the Western Parkland City and the Bradfield City Centre supports thriving industrial ecosystems.

The Authority also collaborated with industry on the development of key projects. This included working closely with Foundation Partners to develop the value proposition for the Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility. In addition, industry partners were closely engaged through a working group in the development of the New Education and Training Model.

Eight new industry partners

This collaboration with existing industry partners on key projects was accompanied by targeted outreach to new industry partners. This included presenting at a variety of public and industry seminars, as well as targeting key international markets including Japan, Singapore, Israel, France and the United Kingdom. As development of the Bradfield City Centre progresses, this market outreach will intensify further.

There has also been strong interest among existing firms active in the domestic market to participate in the development of the Aerotropolis. During the past 12 months, the Authority has agreed new industry partnerships with:

  • Quickstep
  • Romar Engineering
  • FedEx Express
  • ABB
  • Sims Metal
  • University of Technology Sydney
  • Nepean Engineering & Innovation
  • NEC Australia

These new partnerships complement the existing non-legally binding commitments in place with the following cohort of Foundation Partners to either establish a presence or provide input into designing the Aerotropolis: The level of industry commitment to the Aerotropolis highlights the national and global confidence in the potential of the Aerotropolis as a location for advanced and emerging industries to prosper and grow. As development progresses, the Aerotropolis is well positioned to support NSW and Australia’s efforts to drive economic recovery and jobs growth.

Achievement: Coordinating Western Sydney City Deal engagement across three levels of government

The Authority manages delivery of the Western Sydney City Deal on behalf of the NSW Government, Commonwealth and the eight Western Parkland City Councils. In October 2020, in a Machinery of Government change, the City Deal Delivery Office was transferred to the Authority from the Greater Sydney Commission.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the floods of early 2021 presented significant challenges for the Western Parkland City but the three levels of government continued to progress the 38 commitments of the City Deal. By the end of 2020-21, a total of 11 commitments had been completed. These included the opening of three new recreation facilities funded from the $210 million Liveability Program, with work underway on a further 25 projects, and the release of a five year action plan to make the Western Parkland City Australia's first digitally-enabled city.

11 City Deal commitments complete

The Western Sydney City Deal Annual Report, prepared by the City Deal Delivery Office on behalf of the three levels of government, was released in August 2021 and records progress and key achievements in the third year of the City Deal. Development of an evaluation framework and planning for a three-year review of the City Deal has been completed to allow an independent evaluation to be undertaken in the second half of 2021.

The cornerstone of the City Deal is effective governance involving the three levels of Government. This continued to operate during the past year, with:

  • A Leadership Group with Ministerial and Mayoral representation from the three levels of government, meeting twice per year;
  • An Implementation Board comprising senior Commonwealth and NSW Government officials and Western Parkland Council General Managers, meeting four times per year; and
  • A Coordination Committee with representation across the three levels of government to oversee coordination of City Deal commitments, meeting four times per year.