'Game-changer' steelworks rezoning gets the green light
It’s a momentous day for the region today with the news that rezoning plans for a huge area of surplus land at BlueScope Port Kembla has been approved by the NSW Government
It’s a momentous day for the region today with the news that rezoning plans for a huge area of surplus land at BlueScope Port Kembla has been approved by the NSW Government.
According to Wollongong MP Paul Scully, this will result in “the world’s largest industrial land transformation project” and it will happen right here in the Illawarra in the decades to come.
To give the scale of the project context, it covers more than one quarter of the entire Port Kembla Steelworks site and an area equivalent to Sydney’s CBD from Circular Quay to Central Station.
BlueScope’s head of property development, Michael Yiend, said: “The project will see 200 hectares of non-operational land transformed into a future-facing precinct – an incubator for innovation, education, new technologies, and advanced manufacturing to embrace the needs and challenges for the future.
“As always, steelmaking will remain the priority but the land transformation will invite new emerging industries onto the site and into the region, delivering a multi-decade pipeline of investment, economic benefits and new local career opportunities.
“New public spaces and better site access will open the precinct for cultural, recreational, and social uses, strengthening the Illawarra’s identity as a place to live, learn and prosper.”
Illustration: BlueScope
In approving the rezoning today, the NSW Planning Department said 209 submissions were received and the fast-tracked approval would help bring on line about 30,000 new jobs over time.
During the consultation phase, a supportive Paul Scully said: “The Port Kembla Land Transformation Project is a game-changer for the region and the scale of this project is extraordinary.”
The ongoing operations of the steelworks and the port will continue uninterrupted and it’s expected a number of historic buildings on site will be preserved and repurposed, maintaining the site's industrial legacy, alongside its transformation into a modern and innovative precinct.
Already, there has been enormous interest in the vacant site to establish a Super TAFE, a regional Museum of People, Country and Industry and a world-class film studio.
BlueScope says when fully realised, the transformation could deliver $3.26 billion in annual economic output, and double the Illawarra’s contribution to the NSW economy.
