Westmead Hospital is the epicentre of an increasingly busy precinct which does not have a local environment plan (LEP) in place to guide its development.  Photos: NSW Government

The precinct, already a critical mass of hospital, medical and dental services, medical research and associated professional services, education institutions and commercial premises, plus a very busy railway station, is set for massive investment – without a local environment plan (LEP) to guide its development.

For many years, Parramatta City Council and the Department of Planning have been discussing the future of Westmead, not an inconsequential spot on the map, but one which the Metropolitan Strategy identifies as a “specialised centre” performing a vital economic and employment role.

However, council waits, not inpatiently, on a LEP for the area which is still in the department. This is of concern as events are overtaking the plan; events which cause considerable controversy, namely, transport, traffic and parking.

$250 million development

In September 2007, the media reported UWS and Lend Lease were partners in the redevelopment of the historic St Vincent's building on the university’s campus, which would be turned into a 150-room hotel as part of the proposed plans to create on the site a town centre, with the value of more than $250 million.

The proposal also included commercial suites, apartments, medical facility, shopping centre and public car park.  Nothing has commenced as yet.

More recently, the Diocese of Parramatta received council approval for a  $40 million expansion of educational facilities on a 8.5-hectare site, which includes the current Catherine McAuley Westmead, a girls’ secondary school of 1000 students, and Parramatta Marist High, a boys’ secondary school of 1000 students.

Plus a new coeducational primary school and, potentially, a catholic preschool and an out-of-school-hours (OOSH) service and a catholic trade training centre. The project is said to meet demand from the local area.

Private hospital expansion

Council has also approved an application by Ramsey Health Care to demolish a child-care centre and construct a three-level extension to Westmead Private Hospital.

The extension will include an oncology ward, a 39-bed maternity ward and a 38-bed general ward. Additional parking will be 52 cars will be included in the project. The estimated construction cost is $15.3 million.

Another application approved, in Darcy Street, has been for the construction of a 4-storey, mixed-use development containing a supermarket and other retail space, plus 75 apartments.

Council resolution

At council’s last meeting, it resolved to forward a $45 million redevelopment at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), at Westmead, to the Department of Planning.

The proposal is for a staged construction, over a 10-15-year period, of a project including laboratories, library, boardrooms and administration areas and underground parking The project will house an expected 540 people.

These projects, and the hundreds of residential units built in recent years, have been the cause of much discussion within the local community and at council meetings over the area’s capacity to handle local and through traffic, the problems with parking for hospital visitors and staff, and commuters, and inadequate bus services.

According to a report prepared by the UWS Urban Research Centre for the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC), Westmead, one of Australia’s largest health and medical precincts, is emerging as a world-class health, bio-technological and R&D centre, and is forecast to accommodate up to 25,000 jobs by 2031.

A graphic showing a number of institutions in Westmead as depicted in the Metropolitan Strategy (2007). 

Head office move highlights rent advantage

The forecourt of Sydney Water’s new head office in Parramatta contains two water-drop sculptures designed by Julia Davis. The larger stands 3.1 metres high and the smaller, 1.2 metres. Two Smithfield companies, Hycast Metals and Decoware Australia, were responsible for casting and polishing respectively.

The relocation of Sydney Water’s head office from the Sydney CBD to Parramatta has highlighted the marked difference in rents between the two cities.

Sydney Water, which is renting the 23,000-square-metre tower, pays owner, Brookfield Multiplex, $385 per square metres, compared to $440-$540 per square metre for B-grade standard office space in the Sydney CBD.

The utility’s Bathurst Street head office, built on the site of the first head office in 1891, was past its used-by date, with Sydney Water looking to Parramatta for its new HQ; it bought the site on the corner of Smith and Darcy streets for $15 million in 2003. The Sydney building was sold for $140 million.

Brookfield Multiplex built the new head office, opened last month, for $159 million on the highest point in the Parramatta CBD.

$58 million to renovate

While the purpose-built facility in Parramatta cost around $38 million to furnish, a 2005 study estimated it would cost $58 million to renovate the Bathurst Street building, which was built in the 1960s, and staff would have had to be relocated for about three years while the building was refurbished, incurring rent and moving costs.

"The five green star-rated building is progressive in its design, not only visually, but its sustainable design features meet the standard for new modern office facilities,” said Dr Kerry Schott, MD, of Sydney Water.

Cost savings

Recycling blackwater and collecting rainwater will reduce drinking water use by about 75 per cent when compared to a standard commercial office block. The building is expected to produce water savings of about 90 cent when compared to the former Bathurst Street building, saving about $56,000 a year.
 
Solar panels, energy efficient lighting with sensors and a chilled beam air conditioning system will reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by about 30 per cent when compared to a standard commercial office block. The building is expected to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by about 65 per cent, saving around $680,000 compared to the Bathurst Street site.

A new phone system will generate savings; the call centre, at Liverpool, generates about $300,000 per annum in savings. Head office savings come from using a single consolidated system with lower costs for support, maintenance and service.

Historical note

Sydney Water’s connections to Parramatta date from 1916, when the Sydney Metropolitan Water Sewerage & Drainage Board took over the supply of water and sewerage services to Parramatta.

In that year the board rented its first Parramatta office next to the town hall, to act as a service outlet for ratepayers, plumbers and builders. Business continued to increase as water and sewerage systems improved, particularly when the Northern Suburbs Ocean Outfall Sewer to Parramatta was completed.

The board bought a site near the former fire station, opposite Westfield, in 1924 for its administration staff, the district engineer and workers involved in local construction activities. This office served the area until 1991, and Sydney Water closed its last office at Parramatta in 2004.