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Published in Western Sydney Business Access | Parramatta Times | Blacktown News

Back to the local days

Gett ing to know your neighbour

 OUTLOOK | DALLAS SHERRINGHAM

ONE of the few positive aspects of the fundamental shift in the population during Covid-19 has been the switch back to a more localised way of living for the community.

We have returned to a way of life enjoyed by generations past, where we know our neighbors’ names, our children play together in the streets and local businesses have an important role in the community.

Research by sociologists has found that wellbeing is positively infl uenced by community belonging and togetherness during disaster.

Th ey expect relationships to be strengthened due to community identifi cation and feelings of unity in response to the pandemic.

Working from home is now an entrenched way of life, giving more of us the opportunity to spend quality time in our communities, gett ing to know our fellow locals bett er.

Researchers expect many workplaces to adopt a hybrid model allowing staff to work from the offi ce and from home once we have a pathway forward to living with COVID-192.

Global consulting fi rm Deloitt e has announced a new workplace model prioritising outcome, not hours. Th ey have told their 10,000 staff that they can choose when and where they work, as long as tasks are completed.

Westpac and Telstra are considering selling off fl oor space no longer needed in their Sydney city offi ces because many staff will be working from home on a permanent basis.

Th is change in the way we work is expanding the horizon for Australian city residents.

As social demographer Bernard Salt said: “Th e city centre is no longer the pivot around which urban life revolves”.

COVID-19 is inspiring a shift to middle and outer ring suburban living as more people search for greater open space, more connected communities and housing aff ordability. Th e desire to live close to the city to reduce the work commute is no longer relevant, so lifestyle has moved up as the No. 1 priority.

Mr Salt describes these relocators as ‘VESPAs’ or Virus Escapees Seeking Provincial Australia.

Larger more affordable homes

Th ese inner-city residents are buying larger, more aff ordable homes with backyards away from the CBD, while others are leaving the big cities for a regional sea change or treechange and a closer connection to nature. Both trends have a common denominator – a lifestyle shift away from the urban hustle and bustle to local village living and a slower pace of life.

Social connections form part of an area’s appeal. One in two Australians say they feel lonelier due to COVID-19 and the isolation created by restrictions is making life diffi cult.

Research shows people feel more connected to their neighborhoods when they are living away from the urban density of capital cities.

An ABCnsurvey of 60,000 Australians found 55% of inner metropolitan residents know many of their neighbors, compared to about 70% in rural and regional areas.

People are increasingly shopping locally, driven by a strong desire to support local business owners and producers, even if it means spending more than they would at large retailers.

Going forward, this trend is likely to remain, with a survey of more than 1650 shoppers and businesses fi nding 73% of Australians want to see brands demonstrate they are connected to local communities.

Th e growing focus on staying local is highlighting the benefi ts of the 20-minute neighborhood standard of urban planning. Th is ideal scenario gives residents access to shops, services, schools, public transport and employment within a 20-minute walk.

Residents of such neighborhoods not only enjoy convenience but also bett er health because they are walking more oft en and spending more time outdoors.

“Residents of these neighborhoods oft en have a strong sense of community and connection to place,” Professor Linda Corkery of the University of NSW said.

“People are out and about on the street socialising, supporting local businesses, being involved with local schools, enjoying local parks.”

Finding joy in green spaces is a popular pastime these days. With gyms shut and local sporting activities postponed, people are turning to parks, bike trails and walking paths to exercise their bodies and minds. Th is is pushing usage of natural spaces up, with a dramatic increase of 112% in Melbourne, 36% in Sydney and 17% in Brisbane during the fi rst few months of the pandemic in 2020.

What’s more, green spaces have a positive infl uence on housing prices. Th is is particularly the case in higher density areas, where proximity to parks and reserves is more important.

CoreLogic Research Director Tim Lawless described a “statistically signifi cant positive relationship between unit prices and proximity to green areas”.

HOW TO WIN THE WEST HOW TO WIN THE WEST

WESTERN SYDNEY MEDIA ALLIANCE

OCTOBER 2021 | EDITION 126 BUSINESS | LIFESTYLE WWW.ACCESSNEWS.COM.AU DECEMBER 2021 | EDITION 128 BUSINESS | LIFESTYLE WWW.ACCESSNEWS.COM.AU ISSUE 15 | OCTOBER 2021 TRUSTED LOCAL NEWS WWW.PARRAMATTATIMES.COM.AU ISSUE 17 | DECEMBER 2021 TRUSTED LOCAL NEWS WWW.PARRAMATTATIMES.COM.AU

POLITICS FILM Why new State REVIEWS leadership is good for the West: 2 Dune – 5 Stars. The greatest movie of the

decade: 26

MANUFACTURING EDUCATION Local firm’s game changing deal with ASIA: 46 World ranking for WSU Business

School: 8

ParramattA ParramattA ParramattA

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Thank you to all our readers and advertisers for your support during 2022 and we look forward to returning with some exciting new projects in 2022.

ITS beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the City of Parramatta with an assortment of fun Yuletide activities for people of all ages to enjoy. See page 12.

What it might look like to have flying cars over Parramatta CBD.

INSIDE

WEST WINNERS

COVID LESSONS “KEEP saying that the risk of getting a side effect to AstraZeneca is one person sitting in a full SCG, and the risk of dying from it is one in a million - the equivalent to a lightning strike.” Vivid stats voiced by infectious disease expert Professor Tony Cunningham as he took part in a Regional Roundtable webinar of internationally

WSABE 2021 celebrates hope, resilience PARRAMATTA Chamber of Commerce founded the Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence in 1990, affectionately known as WSABE. On Wednesday, November 24, renowned experts held recently by a collaboration of Access News Australia and The Westmead Institute for Medical Research. The panel, who hail from a range of disciplines, spoke about their take on the lessons learned from COVID, and their prognosis of future trends in a post-pandemic world. See pages 4,5.

2021, about 700 guests gathered at ATC, Rosehill Gardens to celebrate business excellence in the region. After what has been the most challenging period of our working lives, guests flowed, immaculately dressed in theme ‘Back in Black’ with a touch of gold celebrating hope and resilience. The resilience of the business community in Western Sydney is second to none. More page 17.

CARS OVER CBD CAN you imagine cars flying above the Parramatta CBD? Parramatta Chamber of Commerce president Luke Magee can certainly see it as a possibility after the Parramatta Times discussed a report from University of NSW suggesting the concept was not far away. “I hope it can be something we can look forward to in the future. It would be good for Parramatta, with its lack of parking,” Mr Magee said. “These flying cars could work like the proposed driverless cars where you park them outside the city and they come to pick you up." More page 2. IN its 160 years as a local government area, Parramatta certainly has grown up - all the way to the sky. Four days after a ceremony commemorating the declaration of Parramatta as a municipality, Sydney’s burgeoning second city welcomed Premier Dominic Perrottet to the “topping out” ceremony of the 225 metre 55 storey high 8 Parramatta Square, which, with adjoining 4 and 6 Parramatta Square, will house 9500 NSW Government workers. More page 8. 160 YEARS OF GROWTH

INSIDE

Key to business relationships: 7

Bankwest becomes CommBank Stadium: 13 WSABE 2021 WRAP-UP

COMING SOON COMING SOON

ISSUE 7 | OCTOBER 2021 TRUSTED LOCAL NEWS WWW.GREATERBLACKTOWNNEWS.COM.AU N

COVID Guide to vaccination centre across Blacktown: 19 COMMUNITY NITY Vale Warren rren Hardy, community ity warrior: 14 14

Special free event for you and your business: 13

PROJECT$ PROJECT$

Cash boost for local precincts

From top left clockwise: Grange Avenue, Loftus St and Glengarrie Rd - all projects for possible development under the AIF program. HIGH growth greenfield precincts in Blacktown will bene-

fit from a share of $139M being handed out by the State Govt this year. The cash is up for grabs for eight Western Sydney councils as applications have opened for round

two of the Accelerated Infrastructure Funding (AIF). More page 4.

Blacktown City

blacktown.nsw.gov.au High impact media that reaches Australia’s fastest growth region - Greater Western Sydney, home of Australia’s new 24-hour airport.

Targeted reach. Four powerful media brands in digital and print formats. Contact us today for a conversation about your success plans: graham@accessnews.com.au

West’s biggest project Airport set for 2026 first flights

 DALLAS SHERRINGHAM

WESTERN Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airports appears on track for first flights to be taking off in 2026 as projected.

More than 20 million cubic metres of earth has already been moved and shaped, pumping more than $100m into businesses in Western Sydney.

Th e new airport will off er an exciting and easily access alternative to Sydney’s existing airport, the crowded Kingsford Smith Airport.

Sydney sprawls out over 12,000sqkm and many of the city’s 5.3 million inhabitants live in the Sydney western suburbs.

And according to specialist media out Simply Flying, the new airport is making a big deal about being “their” airport. In comparison, the existing airport is handy to Sydney’s downtown area and its eastern suburbs.

“Th is project will be a game-changer for Western Sydney locals who want to work closer to home and have more time to spend with their families, not just in the construction phase, but for many decades to come,” Western Sydney Airport CEO Simon Hickey said.

“Construction of Western Sydney International has already led to more than $100m being contracted to businesses across Western Sydney and we are only at the beginning of the build.”

Mr Hickey calls the build ‘one of the biggest earthmoving challenges in Australian history’.

Construction of the airport terminal is now underway and construction of the runways and taxiways will begin this year.

State of the art facilities

The new airport is expected to create 28,000 direct and indirect jobs. More than half the people working at the airport will come from Sydney’s western suburbs.

Sydney’s second airport has been a long time coming and remains mired in some controversy. However, with Sydney’s current operational airport feeling the squeeze space-wise and capacity wise, there is room for another airport.

Mr Hickey has signed MOUs with various airlines, including local heavyweights Qantas and Virgin Australia.

Various dedicated freight airlines, including FedEx, DHL, and Qantas Freight, have expressed interest, as has Qantas’ lowcost off shoot Jetstar.

Th e question remains, will it be a future hit or future white elephant?

Critics of Western Sydney Airport point to Melbourne’s Avalon Airport, which is also a similar distance from Melbourne’s downtown, as an example of an alternative passenger airport that has struggled to gain much traction.

But Simon Hickey dismisses this. He notes three million people live in the local catchment area, giving the future airport the third biggest catchment area of any airport in Australia.

“Western Sydney is home to one in 10 Australians. It is the third-largest economy aft er Sydney and Melbourne. It is one of Australia’s fastest-growing areas in terms of population, and it will have the third-largest catchment of any Australian airport on day one of operation.”

For many of the present Sydney-based passengers using the existing airport, the new Western Sydney Airport will prove a more convenient alternative.

And the diff erence between the primitive facilities off ered at Avalon are a century behind the facilities being off ered at Western Sydney.

I oft en used Avalon when I lived in Melbourne, but it was purely because it off ered cheaper fl ights than Tullamarine. Avalon is more like a bus station that provides fl ights and is set in bushland near Geelong.

Western Sydney will off er state-of-theart facilities for passengers.

Sources: Simply Flying, Western Sydney Airport

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