Council wins LGNSW Planning Award

Penrith City Council’s planning team were the winners of a Local Government NSW (LGNSW) Planning Award in early August at the Local Government Week Awards dinner,

taking out the top spot in Division C (population over 70,000) of the Culture Change Innovation/Excellence category for its submission ‘Developing “Places of Penrith”, a strategic framework for an emerging city’. 

These awards recognise individuals and councils who have demonstrated excellence in planning and development services, and focus on leadership and culture change, innovation and excellence, recognising actions to promote co-operation, participation and the delivery of positive and pragmatic outcomes in the planning and development area. Penrith City Council is committed to forging relationships of excellence within our community, and receiving this prestigious award recognises the significant achievements of Council’s planning team and the importance of this strategic framework in establishing the vision and direction for our city, providing direction on areas of change, and creating better places for our community to connect, play, learn, work and live. 

The Penrith LGA is on the cusp of major transformation and has seen significant government investment in city-shaping infrastructure of the Western Sydney (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport and the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport rail line, which will make Penrith the first city fully connected to the new airport from day one of operations.

Council is proactively planning to align its goals and delivery of infrastructure with these major developments; Places of Penrith is a strategic framework which comprises a suite of land use strategies to provide an innovative, place-based approach, supported by sound evidence, to guide strategic planning for our City.

Council’s planning team has delivered four LGA-wide strategies to date addressing key elements that guide development in Penrith: the Green Grid, Employment Lands, draft Rural Lands and Local Housing. These strategies will guide the next phase of place-based strategies that will outline the directions and outcomes for our corridors and centres. These strategies are being developed in collaboration with government to optimise community benefits from state significant planning, rezoning and infrastructure.

Developing the Places of Penrith strategic framework demonstrates Council’s ability to deliver innovative planning strategies within the context of unprecedented development and external influences. Council’s approach has integrated sound research and analysis with ongoing internal and external collaboration and consultation to ensure the strategies are aligned with Council’s strategic outcomes and state government planning. Consultation has included drop-in sessions, online engagement, surveys and pre-recorded webinars.

You can find further information on the Places of Penrith Strategic Framework, including supporting documents here.