The transformation of an existing warehouse to a hand sanitiser factory in the Shoalhaven on the NSW South Coast is just one of the latest of a tranche of 10 fast-tracked projects to be determined through the NSW Government’s Planning System Acceleration Program.

Planning and Public Spaces minister Rob Stokes says the projects in the fifth tranche of the program will deliver more than $3 billion in economic value and create opportunities for more than 2,700 jobs, if approved.

“The acceleration program is a key part of the NSW Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan, so it is only fitting that the Shoalhaven Starches’ hand sanitiser factory proposal, which will help combat the virus, is being fast-tracked,” says Stokes.

“To date we’ve already accelerated 80 projects over the last four months pumping more than $22 billion into the State’s economy, creating opportunities for more than 48,000 jobs and delivering more than 400 hectares of open space, parks and conservation lands”.

The latest tranche of projects includes a new school in Sydney’s South West, a multi-trades and digital technology hub at TAFE Meadowbank and a new road project linking WestConnex to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport.

Also included is the creation of the new Aerotropolis State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), which will unlock rezonings for five new employment and environmental precincts around the new Western Sydney Airport including the Aerotropolis Core, Badgerys Creek, Northern Gateway and Agribusiness and Wianamatta-South Creek.

“The Aerotropolis SEPP is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lay the foundations for a brand-new State-shaping precinct, with the Aerotropolis set to support more than 200,000 jobs over 20 years in industries of the future,” says Stokes.

This will be the second last tranche of fast-tracked projects under the current program, with details on a new recovery focused acceleration program to be released in the coming weeks.

"The planning system has been a key economic lever in our immediate response to the pandemic, delivering some remarkable results with 80 projects determined in the last 16 weeks,” he says.

“Our focus so far has been on fast-tracking shovel-ready projects that were already in the planning system. Now it is time to shift from urgent response to lasting reform by applying the same accelerated momentum to determine new projects with potential to create significant jobs, economic investment and wider public benefits.”

Image: NSW gov't

Branko Miletic

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