Parramatta is a suburb and major business district in the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Opposition party and community groups are questioning whether the New South Wales government’s $31 billion plan to redevelop Parramatta Road will overwhelm local infrastructure.
The final strategy for the Parramatta Road redevelopment, released on November 9, 2016, includes some 27,000 new residential units along the 20-kilometre corridor around the freeway from Homebush to Haberfield, a 55,000-person population increase over 30 years.
But Planning Minister Rob Stokes said the government had already significantly scaled down its plan for the redevelopment, from a previous 40,000 homes, in response to feedback from the community and councils about the capacity of local infrastructure.
The new strategy commits to $200 million in infrastructure projects to be rolled out immediately. A broader schedule of infrastructure projects has been costed but not funded.
They include $150 million for rapid bus service, 66 hectares of green space, $311 million in contributions to educational facilities, additional hospital funding and 33 kilometres of upgraded pedestrian and cycling links.
Image courtesy of New South Wales government.