Parramatta North health and innovation precinct (Stage 1)
Parramatta North is an existing precinct with significant heritage assets and parkland in a strategic position alongside Westmead, Parramatta River and the Parramatta CBD.
Investment in planned transport, health, education and cultural infrastructure presents the opportunity to form a new Health and Innovation District, consisting of:
- a new education and innovation campus at Parramatta North, with the University of Sydney as its anchor tenant
- an expanded and revitalised Westmead Health Precinct.
The growth of Greater Parramatta and the Central River City (as defined by the 2018 Greater Sydney Region Plan) will benefit from a new world class, research-focused university presence. Parramatta North can house the University campus, realising a range of innovation, jobs, research and education outcomes, and creating a cultural destination in Sydney’s Central River City.
Strategic Fit
The proposal supports a range of NSW Government and Australian Government strategic priorities, including the NSW Government’s vision for the Greater Sydney region.
Societal Impact
Improved access to tertiary education, high-value job opportunities and cultural assets in Central and Western Sydney would raise social participation, quality of life and standards of living. Parramatta North’s heritage and cultural assets are places that can enable cultural participation and storytelling for people of diverse backgrounds, including First Nations peoples.
Deliverability
The proposal can be delivered in stages, with suitable packages of works and decision points for refining and delivering the program of works.
Proponent to identify and analyse potential investment options (Stage 2 of Infrastructure Australia’s Assessment Framework).
The proponent’s proposed forward program is extensive and covers three distinct streams of work – health relocations; development; heritage core.
Each stream reflects different timing for decisions, with business cases applicable for the health relocations and heritage core streams.
The development stream is the most critical to the intended outcomes, as it comprises development agreements for the education campus and supporting infrastructure. Effective engagement with the University of Sydney will be critical to establishing a new campus and realising the intended outcomes.
Moving forward, the proponent should focus on ensuring that the program elements respond to the identified objectives and underlying drivers for change. This will provide confidence that the elements are fit for purpose and represents value for money.
Refer to Infrastructure Glossary for terms and definitions.