It was touted as Penrith’s answer to Barangaroo – a waterside destination offering a luxury retail precinct, business park, golf course and film studios with views of the Blue Mountains.
But three years after the developers of Western Sydney Lakes unveiled the masterplan for the 2000-hectare site, it has failed to make headway, with general manager Andrew Bondini unable to commit to a timeline for the project.
An artist’s impression of Western Sydney Lakes near Penrith.
The vision was still a work in progress, Bondini said, adding the company’s current focus was to rehabilitate the land – which was used as a quarry for decades – a process that was “potentially five-plus years away”. The site is owned by Boral, Holcim Australia and Heidelberg Materials Australia.
“Do we have a strict timeline in delivering [the masterplan]? I mean, it really comes down to a couple of things in the sense of a framework that’s responsive to development and adapts to community needs, market conditions, environmental considerations, and continuing to work along with government on planning requirements, and that’s an ongoing process,” Bondini said.
“There is no current fixed timeframe on that.”
The masterplan’s lack of progress comes after a range of proposed changes to the State Environmental Planning Policy for the site were exhibited in 2021 to allow for the land to be used as a golf course, film production precinct and a heliport.
Penrith Beach, when it opened for the 2024 season.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
The state government permitted usage of the land for the golf course and heliport in 2023 but recommended that Western Sydney Lakes, formerly known as Penrith Lakes, not proceed with the movie studios due to it being a “high intensity use that would pose an unacceptable evacuation risk”.
Since then, the only addition to the Western Sydney Lakes-owned site remains the state government-operated Penrith Beach – nicknamed “Pondi” – which has received more than 330,000 visitors since opening in 2023.
Read the full article here
