Developing constructive partnerships
Landcom recognises that the best way to deliver complex and difficult projects is by developing constructive partnerships with other government agencies, local councils and the private sector.
The signing of a new project delivery agreement for Oran Park in June 2008 allowed us to begin physical works on the site during the year. Two agreements were signed with the Growth Centres Commission for the construction of Oran Park Drive. These gave the green light to the start of road construction, with the project receiving credits valued at $21.7 million. In another boost for the project, Sydney Water agreed to fund the development’s sewer start-up works for $9.3 million.
The close working relationship forged with Housing NSW at our Minto project, where Landcom entered into a successful project partnership with the department and Campbelltown Council, delivered benefits during the year. A formal agreement signed in October established the parameters for a closer working relationship between the two organisations on a range of future projects. Landcom is currently working with the department to find sites for social housing in metropolitan areas as part of the first tranche of the Government’s nationbuilding stimulus package.
To help develop our Sustainability Assessment Tool PRECINXTM, the Department of Environment and Climate Change contributed much-needed funding to the project. PRECINXTM is a mathematical planning and design tool that evaluates the sustainability of a neighbourhood or large urban development project. It comprises six interdependent modules including: onsite energy, embodied C02, water, transport, housing diversity and stormwater. Landcom will launch the tool to the development industry and other stakeholders in November 2009.
Landcom was also approached by the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (DADHC), who sought our help and advice on building group homes for people with disabilities. We assisted DADHC by establishing a builder panel and taking responsibility for the delivery of 26 homes. Construction of the first of these, at Abbotsford in Sydney’s inner west, began on 30 June. This relationship is expected to have long-term implications for the way Landcom works with other Government agencies in the future.
We continued to work closely with a number of councils, assisting with a range of initiatives, including policy development. Of particular note was the agreement signed with Blacktown Council to guide our mutual interests in the future development of the Riverstone Scheduled Lands.
Two of Landcom’s three nominated projects received funding under the Commonwealth’s Housing Affordability Fund. Our Edmondson Park (Camden Valley Way) project received $1.5 million and our Renwick project $6 million. This is a significant achievement and represents nearly 50% of the funding allocated to New South Wales in the first round offers.
Landcom played host to government land-owning agencies nationwide at the inaugural meeting of the National Social Sustainability Forum, which will provide an ongoing opportunity to promote roundtable discussion on social sustainability and community development issues.
A constructive partnership resulting in an outstanding sustainability initiative was the Macarthur Resource Recovery Park, jointly funded by Landcom and WSN Environmental Solutions. The Park, officially opened in July 2008, is Australia’s first large-scale fully integrated municipal resource recovery centre, processing household waste and garden organics from 100,000 households in Camden, Campbelltown, Wollondilly and Wingecarribee Council areas. The impact of waste disposal operations has been an ongoing issue for Landcom and southwest Sydney residents. The Park aims to increase household recycling rates from 50% to 85% when fully operational.
Visual pollution in parts of the city’s southwest is being addressed following an agreement between Landcom, Integral Energy and the Mount Annan Botanic Garden Trust, which will see overhead power lines relocated from Spring Farm and the Mount Annan Botanic Gardens to Menangle Park. Ultimately, this will allow Integral Energy to rationalise and then bury transmission lines underground.