WestInvest funding for heart of Penrith
Penrith residents can soon enjoy a new city centre in St Marys and a huge new recreation precinct thanks to the $5 billion WestInvest Program.
Premier Dominic Perrottet, Treasurer Matt Kean, Minister for Western Sydney David Elliott and Minister for Local Government Wendy Tuckerman today announced more than $28 million in WestInvest funding for Penrith:
- $21 million for the St Marys City Heart and Entertainment Canopy project to deliver a new civic park and state of the art performance centre
- $7 million towards the $41 million Gipps Street Recreation Precinct project to transform a 32-hectare former landfill site in Claremont Meadows into a multipurpose open space facility for the community.
Penrith City Council is contributing $34 million towards the Gipps Street Recreation Precinct project.
Mr Perrottet said the projects put forward by the Penrith City Council would transform the local area.
“St Marys is evolving into a resilient hub connected by the city-shaping Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport project that, once complete, will connect the new airport and aerotropolis to St Marys,” Mr Perrottet said.
“This unprecedented boost through WestInvest will capitalise on the major investments we have made in critical projects, such as Metro West and Western Sydney Aerotropolis, to transform Western Sydney.”
Mr Kean said the St Marys City Heart and Entertainment Canopy project will revitalise the centre of St Marys to support future growth.
“This project will develop a city heart with an accessible civic park and state of the art performance space for local concerts, festivals, markets, fetes and celebrations,” Mr Kean said.
“There’ll be a performance stage, public artwork, a big screen and a huge central lawn for people to gather.”
Mr Elliott said the Gipps Street Recreation Precinct will include spaces for adventure play and a flood-lit pump track, the first of its kind in the local area.
“This former landfill site will be transformed to deliver a new sporting precinct that will benefit the growing community and local families,” Mr Elliott said.
Mrs Tuckerman said the WestInvest Community Project Grants – Local Government Allocation is funding council-led projects to ensure communities benefit sooner.
“Councils play an essential role in delivering services and facilities that meet the needs of locals. WestInvest is accelerating projects, put forward by councils, that will deliver benefit on the ground,” Mrs Tuckerman said.
Member for Penrith Stuart Ayres said the Gipps Street Recreation Precinct project will create new sporting fields, multi-courts designed for basketball and futsal, children's play areas, netball courts, cricket nets, a skate bowl with youth zone, an outdoor gym, a village green, nature trails and much more.
“These WestInvest projects will deliver an exceptional upgrade to sport and open recreation space to Penrith and St Marys communities,” Mr Ayres said.
Penrith Mayor Tricia Hitchens said the projects funded in Penrith show the council and NSW Government are listening to the needs of locals.
“The people of our community told us they want to see more parks and better community infrastructure, and that is exactly what WestInvest is delivering for the people of Penrith,” Cr Hitchens said.
As part of the WestInvest Fund, $2 billion was reserved for priority Community Projects. This included $400 million for 15 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in West and South West Sydney, with each local council eligible for between $20 million and $35 million, depending on population size.
Announcements on other LGAs will be made soon.
The $5 billion WestInvest program was made possible by the Government’s successful WestConnex asset recycling strategy.
A further $1.6 billion from the $2 billion Community Project Grants is available to local community groups.
A total of $3 billion is also set aside to deliver transformational projects that will benefit local communities, led by NSW Government agencies.
To find out more about WestInvest visit www.nsw.gov.au/grants-and-funding/westinvest
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