30-minute wonder city

„ DALLAS SHERRINGHAM

CAMDEN and Liverpool councils have teamed up to turn Leppington into a new '30 minute' wonder city.

They have launched a major precinct masterplan for Leppington Town Centre with the aim of developing the much touted '30-minute city' concept.

The councils have been collaborating on the ambitious masterplan for the town centre, which aims to deliver 10,500 homes by 2041.

The precinct is now under assessment with the NSW Department for Planning and Environment.

The 440ha site within the South West Growth Area spans the two local government authorities but has “been slow to develop to date”.

According to leading web site Urban Developer, this was due to fragmented land ownership and a perceived “lack of a lead developer to establish a town centre”.

The Leppington Town Centre Review Planning Proposal was endorsed by Liverpool Council in October before being discussed at Camden in November ahead of being filed with the department this year.

Leppington is largely an employment-zoned area, focusing on business and industrial parks, with pockets of medium-density residential.

The rezoning masterplan will turn it into a highly integrated mixed-use Strategic Centre Core, according to the councils, helping to facilitate the growth of residential living and the provision of cultural and recreational facilities.

In addition to the residential component, 156,000sq m of retail space and 142,000sq m of commercial, health, community and education floor space are included in the plans.

The area’s employment focus will be retained with 160,000sq m of commercial and industrial enterprise floor space included in the masterplan.

Sources: Camden Council, Urban Developer

Social casinos highly ranked THE Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released a report on social casinos, offering insights into consumer behavior and industry trends in this rapidly growing market. Social casinos offer online casino-style games without real money wagering, but users can make in-game purchases. Australia ranked in the top five markets by consumer spend in H1 2022, with global revenue expected to grow by 5% per annum until 2025. Research shows that social casino game players tend to be older, with slots being the most popular game.

Call for four-day working week

TRADEMUTT, Australia’s leading social enterprise workwear company, has shifted its five-day work schedule to four days to promote better work-life balance. The change in schedule aims to show that reducing working hours per week can still maintain the required output and increase productivity, lessening stress and increasing profitability.

TradeMutt’s founders, Daniel Allen and Edward Ross, encourage business owners across Australia to implement a four-day workweek and discuss with their staff how they can support this change.

Cost of doing business too high

DENITA Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia, has warned that the inflation indicator for February 2023 is a reminder of the risks of entrenching inflation without addressing supply-side hurdles. Although the annual rate of inflation fell from 7.4% in January to 6.8%, it is still declining too slowly. The cost of new dwelling purchases remained up by

13% over the year to February, demonstrating how more aggressive measures to tackle home building cost pressures could help reduce inflation across the economy.

Songs that are simply ear-resistible

DO you ever find yourself with a song stuck in your head, even if you don’t particularly like it or know where it came from? You may have an earworm, a catchy piece of music that plays involuntarily in your mind. Earworms are quite common, with some studies suggesting that up to 98% of people experience them. New research published in the journal Music & Science suggests that repetition is the key factor that causes earworms. The study’s author, Professor Emery Schubert, explains that the chorus of a song is usually the most repeated section, which is why it often becomes an earworm. However, repetition alone is not enough; familiarity and recency of the music, as well as being in a relaxed and low-attentional state, are also necessary preconditions. While some people may find earworms enjoyable, they can be a problem if the music is not liked. To get rid of an earworm, one can try finishing the music, consciously thinking of another song, or avoiding triggers like lyrics or memories associated with the music.

GPs struggle with Medicare

THE Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has expressed support for an independent review of Medicare non-compliance and has urged the Australian Government to offer more assistance for general practice care. The review was conducted by Dr Pradeep Philip and found that leakage in the Medicare system is mainly due to non-compliance errors caused by the complex system, rather than deliberate fraud. RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins welcomed the report’s findings, which cleared GPs of any allegations of Medicare rorting. She stated that GPs are struggling with a fiendishly complex Medicare Benefits Schedule and that an educative, rather than a punitive approach from the Health Department, would be more beneficial

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