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Managing Director’s review
This has been a year of sustained endeavour for Landcom, in which we have geared up to significantly increase
production in the coming years. Our strong investment in greenfield projects has continued to provide stability
for our project partners and others, as the industry finds its way through a prolonged period of economic and
market uncertainty. We have continued to leverage our sustainability efforts and to advance sustainability
innovation. And we have focused our efforts to step up production of land and deliver on our new mandate to
produce 10,000 home sites over the next four years in western Sydney.
Sean O’Toole
In his review, the Chairman described some of the distinguished projects
that have earned Landcom its standing as a developer of excellence and
integrity, including Victoria Park at Zetland, Prince Henry at Little Bay,
Park Central at Campbelltown and The New Rouse Hill. This year we
have continued to build this reputation, reaching a number of significant
milestones on our current projects.
At Oran Park, a whole new town is taking shape, from the inside out.
A fundamental principle of this project is that key facilities and services
should be in place early, because this infrastructure will provide much of the
foundation for the growth of a strong community. Along with our committed
development partner, Greenfields Development Company, we are working
with the University of Western Sydney and a host of community service
agencies to plan Oran Park as a hub of technology, health and education
innovation. Following our sale of the first school site to Sydney Anglican
Schools this year, construction is well underway, and the school will open
the doors to its first primary school students in 2012. We also negotiated the
sale of the Kindergarten to Year 12 school site this year to The Department
of Education and Communities. This will eventually be one of the largest
schools in the state, and primary classes are expected to commence in 2014.
Construction of the retirement village also commenced and the first families
began to move into their new homes in early 2011.
While Oran Park Town takes shape, we also reached a very important
milestone for the development of a town of a different nature – Green
Square. This year Landcom secured the Gateway Determination by the
Minister for Planning and Infrastructure for the development of Green
Square Town Centre. This is a critical step in the planning process which
clears the way for this landmark urban regeneration development in
Sydney’s inner south.
We also finalised the purchase of surplus Defence land at North Penrith from
the Commonwealth Government. Landcom’s transit-oriented development
of this site will help to support and shape the evolution of Penrith city as it
adapts to provide more housing choice, jobs and better access to services
and facilities for current and future residents.
Other significant beginnings this year include our release of land at Talana,
our first residential neighbourhood in the Edmondson Park release area.
Landcom has been working for several years to facilitate the precinct and
infrastructure planning for the entire area, and with Talana we aim to provide
a model and catalyst for the development of neighbouring areas.
While Landcom is breaking ground with these new projects, our role in
others is wrapping up – at Greenway Views in the southwest and Newbury
in the northwest. These long-term projects were among the first in which
Landcom partnered with the private sector and took an active role in the
delivery of built form. The planning of these projects was focused very much
on the principles of new urbanism – to create walkable, connected and
diverse neighbourhoods with quality architecture and urban design.
We have learnt a great deal about the art of place-making from these
projects, which we carry forward into our current work.
We continue to pride ourselves on – and aim continuously to improve – our
sustainability leadership, the trusting and productive relationships we have
with our partners and stakeholders, and our resolve and skill in unlocking
complex land development problems. This year’s sustainability conference
– DiverseCity – was enormously successful in advancing the industry’s
collective dialogue on the sustainability issues we currently face, and those
on the horizon. The conference also gave us the opportunity to launch our
new planning and design guides on housing density, diversity and built
form, bringing the total number of published guides in our collection to 10.
We were very pleased to host 340 of our colleagues and stakeholders at the
conference, and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
DiverseCity followed our last conference at which we launched PRECINX ® ,
Landcom’s sustainability modelling tool. This year we have enhanced
the functionality of the tool with generous sponsorship from the former
Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. I am pleased
to report that we have been working closely with our government land
organisation colleagues in other states and made the tool available to them.
We are proud that our work may provide the platform for development of a
national approach to sustainability modelling.
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landcom annual report 2011