Proposed rezoning of Macquarie Park Innovation District

Latest Update - Stage Two

The City of Ryde has restated its commitment to working with the NSW Government in striking the right balance between jobs, homes, and essential infrastructure as it outlined serious concerns with the government’s stage 2 rezoning proposal for the Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID).

The government’s rezoning proposal and its latest version of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is again centred on significantly more housing for the MPID that will see well over 15,000 additional apartments built.

This will include Build-to-Rent housing, all located within the vital employment lands, decimating those businesses that drive innovation and enterprise.

This housing is in addition to over 22,000 apartments already planned for Macquarie Park and would likely mean that additional key infrastructure, including schools, open space, and major health facilities, would be required above what is already planned. This housing will not only replace at least 23,000 new jobs that have been promised to the community, but severely jeopardise those 70,000 jobs that already exist in the MPID.

The City of Ryde has significant concerns with the Stage 2 rezoning including:

  • Lack of committed infrastructure, including energy and water, shortage of guaranteed open space, and recreational opportunities for what has been a strong and vibrant community
  • Excessive residential population growth resulting from Build-to-Rent developments (where all dwellings/apartments are maintained by the developer as one lot and will be rented above market rent and not be sold). This type of residential development has not been included in the proposal’s infrastructure delivery plan. The risks are there will not be enough infrastructure (such as schools and open space), Council’s ratable base will be severely impacted, resulting in loss of services, programs and projects in catering for this additional population
  • Loss of innovation and enterprise, and employment land as Build-to-Rent development will be located in employment zones
  • Adverse amenity impacts from locating residential development next to conflicting land uses
  • No commitment by the NSW Government to limit the explosion of data centres in the MPID, not only impacting the enterprise and innovation, but also the Government’s plans for the provision of significant housing that could be provided adjacent to the Macquarie Park Metro Station – where housing is most desired.

City of Ryde CEO Wayne Rylands said that meaningful collaboration with the NSW Government in addressing these concerns would ensure that Sydney’s original innovation district remains an economic powerhouse where brilliant minds flourish and world-changing ideas are brought to life.

“The City of Ryde will continue to seek secure, guaranteed funding from the NSW Government to deliver infrastructure, stop excessive Build-to-Rent housing, protect employment land uses with high quality innovation employment, and locate the proposed housing uplift to locations where there is infrastructure and facilities to support the community,” he said.

“City of Ryde is not a NIMBY Council. We support significant housing uplift that is combined with up-front provision of the necessary infrastructure and is combined with excellent employment opportunities – it is about Striking the Right Balance!”

About Macquarie Park Innovation District

The Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID) is recognised as a hub of innovation and enterprise, accommodating a vibrant community of businesses, workers, students, and residents. The MPID offers “opportunity and lifestyle” for businesses, residents, and visitors, including a strategic location, a dynamic business and innovation ecosystem, a highly skilled workforce, a high quality of life, and a pipeline of our country’s most intelligent minds. The MPID is already a globally competitive innovation district - making an annual economic contribution of $13.6 billion to the NSW economy. It is also estimated that every year over $700 million is invested in R&D in MPID, translating to $2.6 billion in benefits to the Australian economy. The City of Ryde has long been an advocate for maintaining the prominence of MPID, ensuring it remains Australia’s premier “innovation” employment hub.

Council’s submission to the Macquarie Park Innovation Precinct Stage 2 Rezoning Proposal can be viewed here(PDF, 2MB).

Stage One

Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID) is a place for innovation alongside a vibrant community of businesses, workers, students, and residents.

City of Ryde has been advocating for a future where the Macquarie Park Innovation District (Australia’s original Innovation District) continues to be one of Australia’s leading employment hubs.

Through a number of short-sighted and rushed policy changes, the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is seeking to turn the Macquarie Park Innovation District into a residential dormitory for the rest of Sydney. A place where jobs and businesses will be replaced with stacks of residential towers, with tens of thousands of new residents adding to congested roads and long commutes using inefficient public transport services in order to get to their place of work.

We asked the community to join our campaign to deliver a smarter vision for the Macquarie Park Innovation District.

Submissions closed on 8 February 2024, so we will now be collating responses to support a submission by the City of Ryde on the Department’s rezoning proposal.

Support of Council's position

Residents, workers, and business owners have been responding overwhelmingly in support of Council’s call to the State Government to rethink a recent series of planning decisions which would transform Australia’s original Innovation District into a high-rise housing dormitory.

Here is what they are saying:

From a local MPID Business Owner: "MPID needs to remain a vibrant expanding area for innovative businesses in the healthcare, biotech and tech spaces. Taking available land to convert into residential when there is already insufficient commercial capacity is the wrong move."

From a MPID worker: “The district is already overrun by vehicles, with the current road infrastructure unable to cope with the current load during peak periods and other various times of the day. The argument may be that the rail infrastructure would provide better support for residents to travel but this only services east/west travel not north/south so car travel would only increase.”

From a resident: “This is the one real chance Australia can solidify a Silicon Valley-esque position at a global level - there is a real opportunity here, and it's already in motion. It would be short-sighted and a real shame to deliberately move backwards from this trajectory.”

From a resident and worker: “What happens to the infrastructure? We’ll need more schools, hospitals, childcares, medical centres. It is a silly idea to have more housing but at the same time removing local employment, this means people will still have to commute for work.”

Further updates will be provided here once the Council's submission is sent to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.

If you are a business interested in joining our MPID media campaign, please email Media team at the City of Ryde.


 

 

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