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AAP
AAP
Politics
Samantha Lock

Move to end obstruction for delayed 'airport city'

The NSW government is ramping up the development of a new town centre at Western Sydney Airport. (Flavio Brancaleone/AAP PHOTOS)

Planning for one of the largest infrastructure and building projects in the country has been plagued by delays that have stalled development of Sydney's new airport city, the state government admits.

The major housing, business and logistics precinct - to be built on the doorstep of the 24-hour international Western Sydney Airport - has been beset by slow decision-making and will likely take decades to be completed. 

Industry and local representatives have lambasted progress on the jobs hub, saying it will be far from ready in time for the scheduled opening of the airport in 2026.

Anthony Albanese and Chris Minns at a tunnel breakthrough.
Anthony Albanese and Chris Minns inspect a tunnel breakthrough at the Western Sydney Aerotropolis. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Premier Chris Minns conceded the community was fed up with the pace of delivery for "the fastest growing part of Australia".

"Leaders, local mayors, as well as businesses are sick of seeing one hand of government not co-ordinated with the other," he told reporters from the site at Bringelly, in western Sydney, on Wednesday.

Mr Minns said his government wanted to "put an end to the years of obstruction and delay" that slowed down the delivery of infrastructure across the state.

Under an overhaul unveiled on Wednesday, the state's infrastructure co-ordinator general will oversee housing and road building around the airport and the delivery of freight, logistics and other job sites in the area.

Responsibilities will be shifted to Infrastructure NSW from the Western Parkland City Authority, which will be renamed the Bradfield Development Authority and focus exclusively on the development of the planned Bradfield town centre.

Mr Minns conceded the parkland city authority was not fit for purpose. 

"For too long, we've had businesses and local political leaders say it's too cumbersome, there's too much red tape, we can't get direct answers from government agencies ... so we've made a decision to streamline it," he said.

The state opposition accused the Minns government of costing the stalled "aerotropolis" development 12 wasted months while they "played around with bureaucracries".

Anthony Albanese (centre) and Chris Minns (left).
Anthony Albanese (centre) joined Chris Minns (left) to inspect the Western Sydney Aerotropolis site. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined Mr Minns at the site, where the boring of tunnels for a metro that will connect the airport to the wider Sydney rail network is near complete.

The machines will complete their final 230m leg withing a few weeks before construction of six stations along the 23km track begins. 

Industry groups welcomed the move to overhaul management of the precinct.

Urban Taskforce acting chief Stephen Fenn said NSW had operated for too long without an authority responsible for infrastructure delivery.

"Agencies like Sydney Water and TfNSW (Transport for NSW) were pursuing their own agenda, timetable and priorities, with no central voice dictating the overarching needs of the state," he said.

"The expanded role of the infrastructure co-ordinator general fills that vacuum."

Describing the current situation as a "shemozzle", the Property Council of Australia said the changes would remove bottlenecks, accusing multiple government agencies of "working to their own timeline".

"The biggest challenge in the aerotropolis is coordinating infrastructure, and with more than a dozen agencies with their finger in the pie, these moves are welcome," western Sydney regional director Ross Grove said.

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