“Blacktown is growing and it would be short sighted not to be properly prepared,” Mayor Bali said.
“We have the biggest population of any council area in the state – currently there are more than 340,000 living here and this is predicted to grow to some 540,000 by 2036.
“We know more than 7,200 people moved into the area last year – the biggest population increase for a council area in NSW.
“Blacktown City Council’s strategic plans are designed to manage this growth and maximise the potential for development in the established areas of its City.
The Local Environmental Plan (LEP) is an overarching planning framework created by Blacktown Council and approved by the State Government.
Blacktown’s LEP was signed off recently and comes into effect in six weeks’ time; giving the council and Blacktown’s residents certainty for the way their neighbourhoods will take shape.
“A key element is the creation of four development hubs in Blacktown CBD, Seven Hills, Rooty Hill and Mount Druitt,” Mayor Bali said.
“These four areas will take on a significantly higher density than they have at the moment and it means the character of our suburban streets will stay the same.
Blacktown’s LEP is supported by a City wide planning strategy and a series of master plans for the Urban Renewal Precincts that promote higher density housing, a mixture of employment uses and continued improvements to the public domain.
What the LEP means
The Precincts will provide attractive environments for business and government to invest in development that creates employment opportunities.
30,000 new job opportunities will be created by the LEP in the Urban Renewal Precincts. Primarily this will be located in the Blacktown CBD, in new business parks in Blacktown and Seven Hills, and a health and education precinct surrounding Blacktown Hospital and TAFE.
180 hectares of business parks in Blacktown and Seven Hills. Generally intended for office and light industrial uses, including high technology industries, these precincts have the potential to create a higher density and greater variety of employment opportunities in areas serviced by public transport.
A health and education precinct directly adjoins the expanding Blacktown Hospital in the City Centre. It will create and provide for a clustering of health-related employment opportunities and important community services for the growing population and covers Urban Renewal Precincts around key transport nodes and major centres, which allows the character of the low density neighbourhoods to be preserved.
14,500 new dwellings will be created by the LEP in the Urban Renewal Precincts, in the form of higher density housing such as residential flat buildings and mixed used apartment buildings. Residential unit developments can be up to 23 stories high and commercial buildings can be up to 18 stories high in the Blacktown CBD.
“We are providing certainty for residents, developers and investors as well as opportunities for a greater variety of housing and employment opportunities that don’t currently exist."
“Based on the number of enquiries we fielded in the planning stage, we expect the LEP to have an immediate positive impact on Blacktown City.”
