Op-ed: Plan will ensure airport delivers for the west
When the Coalition government took the decision in 2014 to build Western Sydney Airport, it was clear this would bring big benefits. With two million people closer to Western Sydney airport than Sydney’s existing airport, people of the west will have better and fairer access to air travel.
Today, as one airline CEO pointed out to me, his Western Sydney customers can get a $69 ticket from Sydney to Melbourne — but they face a $200 taxi fare to the airport.
And the new airport will attract businesses and jobs to Western Sydney, jobs that locals will be well placed to capture. Economic modelling shows 28,000 jobs by 2031 — and that number will soar as the years go by and the airport grows.
But four years later, what really stands out is the work the Turnbull government — together with the Berejiklian government — has under way to build on the benefits of our
$5.3 billion investment in the airport. We are investing in new roads under the $3.6 billion Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan.
A new M12 Motorway will connect the airport to the M7 and the Sydney Motorway Network; the Northern Rd will be upgraded to four lanes along its entire 35km from Narellan to Penrith.
Many other projects are under way or completed, including upgrades to Werrington Arterial Rd, Bringelly Rd and local roads such as Eagle Vale Drive in Campbelltown. There is new rail investment as well.
The Turnbull and Berejiklian governments have committed to rail from St Marys to Western Sydney Airport and North Bringelly — with a joint objective of rail to the airport by the time it opens.
This is the first stage of a planned North-South rail connection which ultimately will run from Campbelltown in the southwest to Schofields in the northwest.
Rail to the airport is a commitment made under the Western Sydney City Deal — a formal agreement between the Commonwealth and NSW governments and eight Western Sydney councils which sets out a 20-year plan for the growth and prosperity of Western Sydney. Over the next 20 years an extra million people are expected to live in Western Sydney, so we need to plan for and capitalise on that growth. The City Deal incorporates the Greater Sydney Commission’s vision for the Western Parkland City, centred around Western Sydney Airport, as the third city in the Sydney metropolitan area.
Next to the airport we will establish the “Aerotropolis” — an urban area designed to attract the kinds of businesses which value the connectivity an airport provides. It will become Western Sydney’s hub for sectors like advanced manufacturing; transport and logistics; tourism, accommodation and conferences; defence and aerospace;
and education and training.
To plan and oversee the development of the Aerotropolis, we are establishing a Western Sydney Development Authority. There will also be a Joint Investment Attraction Office, charged with attracting businesses from around Australia and the world to locate near the new airport.
More businesses in Western Sydney means more jobs in Western Sydney — and more opportunities for people to enjoy living, working and playing all within reasonable distances in Western Sydney.
To help make Western Sydney even more liveable, under the City Deal there is a $150 million Liveability Fund, accessible by councils to develop parks and other projects.
Western Sydney is a vibrant community with strong growth prospects and a very bright future. To secure that future, the Turnbull and Berejiklian governments are making once-in-a-century investments to deliver a new airport, new road and rail, and new urban centres rich with jobs.
Growth is good — but growth with a plan is even better. That is what we are delivering for Western Sydney.
This article was originally published in the Daily Telegraph on 1 June 2018
