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As pressure mounts on the Australian economy and productivity becomes a national priority, Hawkesbury businesses say a chronic shortage of industrial land is strangling their ability to grow — and they want action now.
State and federal treasurers continue to emphasise the importance of productivity gains to stabilise and grow the economy, but for many local businesses, that message rings hollow when the infrastructure needed to enable such gains is seemingly often stuck in bureaucratic limbo.
Locally, at the heart of the issue is a decade-long delay in finalising Hawkesbury City Council’s Local Environmental Plan (LEP) — a crucial rezoning instrument needed to unlock more industrial land.
According to Fiona Germaine, Director of the Bells Line of Road Business Council (BLOR BC), the NSW Planning Department has formally requested further information from Council three separate times — and is still waiting.
“This LEP process has dragged on for 10 years," says Fiona Germaine.
"NSW Planning is still waiting on Council to respond with the information they’ve asked for. In the meantime, local businesses are wearing the cost,” she added.
Council, for its part, has claimed that delays are the fault of the NSW government, but local industry leaders say the real problem lies much closer to home.
For Jeff Ferrara, son of local business pioneer Frank Ferrara, and operations lead at Rhino Technology in Mulgrave, the consequences of the industrial land shortage are deeply practical.
“We lease two additional industrial lots about a kilometre apart, and we lose hours every day just moving between them. It’s a huge waste of time and money,” Mr Ferrara told the Gazette.
“We pay about $800,000 a year in combined rent, and we’d much rather put that towards purchasing a suitable industrial site — but there’s just nothing available in Hawkesbury.”
The long-running frustration over the availability of industrial land has turned toward Wilberforce’s Woodlands Industrial Estate, where Council owns land which has been earmarked for expansion since the 1980s. While environmental factors must be respected — including the endangered plant species reportedly growing out of the site’s old concrete slab — businesses argue that adjustments can be made to balance biodiversity and economic development.
“This land was purchased decades ago for industrial development. It’s time to make it work for the community’s economic future,” Fiona Germaine said.
Council had previously attempted to secretly sell the site, but the move was quashed when Hypro, a pet foods company, claimed they discovered such a sale would breach government public interest provisions.
“What’s urgently needed is leadership by government,” said Jeff Ferrara. “This is about productivity, local jobs, and the long-term viability of Hawkesbury businesses. Council needs to respond to NSW Planning, finalise the LEP, and unlock the industrial land our community desperately needs.”
With rents soaring, productivity being lost, and land sitting idle, Hawkesbury’s business leaders are calling for real progress — not more paperwork and more delays.
