Think Badgerys Creek and many of us think the long-discussed – and maybe one day even realised – second airport for Sydney. The fact of the matter is that the slated developments in greater western Sydney and for Badgerys Creek – which sits 50km southwest of Sydney’s CBD and was first mooted for the site of a second Sydney airport back in the 1970s – are far bigger than just a much-needed second airport for Australia’s largest city.

Western Sydney accounts for a population of about two million, while the Sydney’s total population is about 4.8 million. That means that western Sydney currently comprises over 40 per cent of the Sydney population.

Over the next 20 years, the population of Sydney’s western corridor, from The Hills district in the north right down to Camden and Campbelltown in the south, is expected to grow by one million.

To put this into perspective, Adelaide has a population of 1.3 million, so it is not all that far fetched to imagine an addition of just short of an Adelaide to western Sydney’s existing population.

The Australian government is spending $2.9 billion over 10 years in major infrastructure upgrades that will transform the region’s economy. This program includes:

• An upgrade of The Northern Road to a minimum of four lanes from Narellan to the M4 Motorway;
• The construction of a new four-lane motorway between the M7 Motorway and The Northern Road;
• The upgrade of Bringelly Road to a minimum of four lanes from Camden Valley Way to The Northern Road;
• The improvement of interchanges connecting The Northern Road and new motorway with arterial roads; and
• A $200 million local roads package.

This is significant money, and it is just the beginning. On April 13, Seven News ran a story about the hotel industry cashing in on Badgerys Creek Airport. Then there is a planned new two-line railway with express trains direct to the new airport from Sydney’s CBD.

And then there is retail. Huge plans within the airport and in the greater western Sydney region in general.

So, with this expansion explosion, how much of the Sydney retail spend will simply move, from where it is currently spent to the west? If it is simply cannibalised, there will be winners and losers but the pot won’t change much.

The larger retailers are presumably already planning for this, including softer growth in some areas augmented by strong sales in the newly developed areas.

But are medium and smaller retailers looking ahead this far into the future? The airport, to be called Western Sydney Airport, is scheduled to open in 2026. It’s early days yet, but for retailers of all shapes and sizes this is worth keeping an eye on. A decade is a short time in retail.

* Image courtesy of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development.

Stuart Bennie is a retail consultant at Impact Retailing www.impactretailing.com.au and can be contacted at [email protected] or 0414 631 702.