The paper said the precinct, 1.5 kilometres east of the Parramatta CBD, was in urgent need of renewal to support the rapid growth of Parramatta expected over the next 20 years.
The precinct, which has a long industrial heritage, has great strategic value in terms of its size, location, activity and opportunities for future development.
The precinct is characterised by predominantly industrial uses, including Shell’s fuel import terminal, formerly a refinery, and has significant recreational uses, such as the Rosehill Gardens Racecourse and the Sydney Speedway/Granville Showground, the document said.
The precinct, a peninsula bounded, in part, by the Parramatta and Duck rivers, is adjacent to other employment lands at Rydalmere, Silverwater and Auburn, and is strategically positioned to grow existing and new high-technology industry clusters.
“The precinct is well positioned to support a transition from traditional heavy industries to an innovative clean technologies business hub building on a number of existing enterprises within the precinct,” the document said.
“Given the significant and continued operation of Shell’s fuel import terminal in the precinct, there is the opportunity for clustering of associated industries.”
With the University of Western Sydney’s Parramatta campus, across the Parramatta River, at Rydalmere, the scope existed for increasing research and development activities and the creation of an innovation hub.
The potential for this innovation hub to be associated with alternative transport fuels refining, advanced biofuels and research and development given Shell’s presence in the precinct, the document said.
The precinct, however, faced a number of major challenges, such as, congested road access, land contamination, flooding and fragmented land ownership, with more than 100 individual landowners with in the precinct.
The draft document said a survey of stakeholders in 2013 indicated that the majority of businesses intended to remain there currently, thus limited widespread change of use in the short to medium term.
To accommodate growth in the precinct, the document noted the infrastructure upgrades requiring further investigation include improvements to Grand Avenue, links to Silverwater and Sydney Olympic Park by bridges over Duck River and a ferry wharf on the Parramatta River, just north of the Camellia train station.
Employment in the precinct totals over 3000 people, with the majority, 1415, coming from six businesses. Shell, which was a major employer with 490 workers, requires only 60 employees.
Council proposes to consult the precinct’s stakeholders in the development of a long-term vision for Camellia.
