University to underpin growth of multigenerational housing community
LOS ANGELES: A university is now set to underpin the growth of a multigenerational housing community on a large regeneration site.
Business leaders and urban planners are calling on the NSW government to grant Liverpool the same “Parramatta treatment” that transformed the geographical heart of Sydney, warning that a failure to prioritise the southwest gateway will stifle the region’s economic future.
Liverpool in recent years has seen a surge of interest from major universities which have begun setting up campuses there.
With nearly four per cent of the state’s total population expected to live in the Liverpool local government area by 2036, council and business leaders say it is a prime location for further investment.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that UNSW is just weeks away from announcing a permanent campus at Liverpool, following in the footsteps of other major institutions, including the University of Wollongong which has begun construction on a 17-storey campus in the Liverpool CBD.
Central to the push to transform the suburb is the creation of a Liverpool Square – similar to Parramatta Square – with commercial and government buildings concentrated around the train station to create a downtown hub.
Committee for Sydney chief executive Eamon Waterford said with multiple universities setting up bases in the heart of Liverpool, it needed a centre that reflected its thriving young population.
To make this happen, he said it was crucial Liverpool was linked to the existing Metro line, via an extension from Bankstown. It would also need good transport connections to capitalise on the new Western Sydney International Airport, Mr Waterford said.
“Liverpool in many ways is the gateway to the southwest and then onwards towards the Southern Highlands and Canberra. If we’re thinking about the future of Western Sydney turning westwards towards a new airport, Liverpool has to be in the conversation,” he said.
“It is situated on major train lines that connect through to the southwest – it’s a no-brainer for this to be a place where jobs, where night-time activity and a thriving CBD come together.”
There are also proposals for a “Liverpool Incubator” to provide a platform for entrepreneurs and medical tech start-ups to scale ideas globally without having to leave Sydney’s southwest.
Liverpool Innovation Precinct chair David Borger said further proposals like a new major TAFE centre focused on nursing would anchor a homegrown healthcare workforce in the area.
“One of Liverpool’s big attractions is it has got one of the biggest hospitals in Australia and it’s right in the middle of town. We often put hospitals on the edge of town on cheap land with good motorway access, but actually hospitals are great closer to CBDs – they generate a lot of foot traffic and activity,” he said.
“But it does need some investment in public domain and improving the transport connectivity.”
However, all these ambitions for Liverpool face significant political hurdles as the Minns government does not identify the area as a priority site for the city’s next CBD, instead preferring to focus its energy on the Bradfield City Centre in its Sydney Plan.
Additionally, a fractious relationship between Liverpool City Council and the Minns government has continued to frustrate efforts at further development.
Tensions are particularly high regarding the state government’s refusal to rezone industrial land at “Moore Point” for a mixed and residential-use development that Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun believes could transform the area into a thriving CBD.
The proposal from Coronation Property would create an 11,000-home development along the Georges River. However, the state government argues there is a need to maintain industrial land in the suburb.
“(Industry should) go near the airport where there’s land as far as the eye could see for industrial use, and use this land for great-quality residential,” Mr Mannoun said. “It’s ridiculous, no other city in the world would be doing this.”
The mayor said while there was an increasing number of large private companies setting up shop in Liverpool, businesses should be further incentivised to move there by reducing payroll tax for those that come and create jobs in the area.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said he recognised Liverpool was an “important and growing commercial centre”.
“The Minns Labor government has recognised this and is making investments to support ongoing growth, including an $830m investment to deliver the Liverpool Health and Academic Precinct redevelopment, supporting hundreds more jobs,” he said.
Liverpool couple John and Carmen Chahda have run Mio Espresso for three months in the area and believe it would be a prime location for a Parramatta-style town square.
“We need some big corporate businesses to move in,” Mr Chahda said “There’s a lot of opportunities in Liverpool, especially for the younger generation. I want to see somewhere where young people want to spend some time.
“We need more places for the younger people to hang out.”