The road is paved to Western Sydney for big government offices to move. Image: Martijn de Valk
Whoever said Sydney’s CBD was the only place where important state government offices could be done was very wrong.
The New South Wales government is set to put that myth to rest by expanding its office space out into the frontiers of Western Sydney, which is being touted as a vast, high growth area that needs to be cultivated and nurtured to help boost the wider economy.
It’s an effort to deliver what the government calls its biggest agency leasing commitment in Western Sydney by moving more public sector jobs to the ‘booming West’.
That’s why NSW Minister for Finance Dominic Perrottet announced that the government has formed a shortlist of candidates to submit detailed proposals for up to 62,000 square metres of new A-grade office accommodation in Sydney’s western suburbs.
This leasing solution is set to accommodate at least 4,000 public service roles in Western Sydney, with around 1,700 of those roles relocating directly from the CBD.
Mr Perrottet wasn’t short on praises for Western Sydney and what it can offer, calling it the “beating heart” of the NSW economy.
“This government is laying the foundations for a boom in jobs and economic growth to match the booming population,” Mr Perrottet said.
“In terms of establishing a major public-service base in the West, this leasing search is on an unprecedented scale, and will deliver more jobs closer to where people live, and a major stimulus for the local economy.”
The state government’s plan was first announced in 2015, and includes the creation of a Western Sydney Planning and Environment ‘hub’, consolidating around 2,500 roles from the Department of Planning and Environment, the Office of Environment and Heritage and the Environment Protection Authority, enabling those agencies to better collaborate.
Not only that, approximately 1,600 roles from the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation will also be accommodated as part of the leasing search, with room for further relocations.
According to the state government, it received a strong response in the initial expressions of the the interest stage.
Now, the shortlisted proponents will now be invited to participate in the detailed tender phase, due to close in November, with the successful proponent expected to be announced by the end of 2016.
Western Sydney Director of the Sydney Business Chamber, David Borger, said the announcement represents an incredible economic catalyst for Western Sydney.
“It makes sense to locate these agencies in Western Sydney given it is the heart of metropolitan Sydney,” he said.
“This investment will supercharge the development of professional services and the retail economy.”
Since 2014, the government has announced the relocation of more than 4,200 public service roles from the CBD to Western Sydney, including more than 1,800 jobs from the Department of Education, which will be relocated to Parramatta from 2018.
