01 April 2011

Premier Barry OFarrell announced the appointment of Chris Eccles as Director General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Director General of the Education Department Michael Coutts-Trotter will be appointed to head up the key economic Department of Finance and Services. Dr Mary Foley had been appointed Director General of the NSW Health Department, replacing Professor Debora Picone.

28 March 2011

The winning architectural design for the redevelopment of one of Parramattas key city centre sites has been revealed. The NSW Department of Planning and Parramatta City Council announced that Tony Caro Architecture had won the design competition for a proposed mixed-use residential development on the former David Jones site at 330 Church Street. The $111 million redevelopment of the site is being proposed by Meriton Apartments Pty Ltd., with the winning design including two separate residential towers of 34 and 22 storeys, a public square and stepped terraces down to the rivers edge.

17 March 2011

Minister for Planning, Tony Kelly, welcomed Barry O'Farrell's admission on Sydney radio that there would still be 'reserve' powers for State Government when it came to planning decisions. Mr Kelly said O'Farrell let the cat out of the bag on 2GB when he qualified the Opposition's planning policy, by declaring he would only return local planning decisions to councils. More than 99% of planning decisions are made by local councils, Mr Kelly said.

17 March 2011

Some 5km of upgraded tracks and cycleways will be built alongside Sydney Harbour, as part of a long-term NSW Government program which has vastly improved access to the city.s famous waterway. Minister for Planning Tony Kelly and Ports Minister Eric Roozendaal said over $1.3 million in funding had been made available under the latest round of the Sharing Sydney Harbour Access Program (SSHAP).

16 March 2011

The Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness, Senator Mark Arbib, discussed social housing.

15 March 2011

A re-elected Keneally Government will maintain a 70:30 split between urban consolidation and Greenfield expansion to fairly allocate housing growth across NSW - and fight Coalition plans to dump 128,000 extra homes in western Sydney - as part of Fairness For Your Neighbourhood. A re-elected Keneally Government will: Deliver 80 per cent of new housing within walking distance of major centres by 2031; and Build 90,000 new homes close to public transport links by 2016. While Sydney needs to grow, it should grow fairly and not in a way that benefits some parts of the city at great cost to others, Ms Keneally said.