Proposal to transform Western Sydney suburb of Camellia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Developers are pushing the government to transform an industrial suburb in Western Sydney by creating an artificial beach and 20,000 homes. The proposal would help with the states housing shortage. But its success depends on the sale of nearby Rosehill racecourse; and that is still up in the air.

Transcript

00:00 From a contaminated industrial zone to a busy metropolis, this is the vision for Camellia,

00:08 a 10 minute drive from Parramatta.

00:10 I'm very excited about it.

00:12 Yeah.

00:13 Yeah, definitely.

00:14 I'm all for development because we need it.

00:16 I am a bit concerned about the infrastructure.

00:18 I don't like that they think about adding more houses before they think about the traffic conditions.

00:24 But the glossy promotional video is far from reality.

00:27 This is a government that in its first year in office has failed on housing.

00:31 They've talked big, there are a lot of proposals that haven't yet been implemented.

00:35 Developers at Camellia have seized on the state government's vision for the nearby Rose Hill racecourse.

00:40 Labor wants to turn the track into 25,000 homes serviced by a new metro stop.

00:46 The Premier's looking for supporters in his mission to boost housing.

00:50 All we need is the right arguments, marshalled in the right way, with good allies.

00:56 Both developments together would be a major boost to housing supply.

01:01 So making 45,000 homes or homes for 100,000 people.

01:05 But the Rose Hill mini-city hinges on support from the Australian Turf Club members

01:11 and the transformation of Camellia is unlikely to be viable without the metro stop

01:16 that's attached to the development at Rose Hill.

01:18 The other major challenge in redeveloping Camellia is the contamination.

01:23 This site is filled with asbestos and chromium from years of heavy industry.

01:29 It's going to be expensive to fix.

01:31 The contamination clean-up is the responsibility of the landowners, not of government.

01:36 The planning department is proposing to rezone the land this year

01:40 to allow for some form of residential development by 2041.

01:44 to be one.

01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended