Potts Hill redevelopment

The Potts Hill reservoir site is located in south-west Sydney and Sydney Water has been operating it for more than 120 years. Today, Potts Hill plays a role in supplying water to Sydney, with water stored on site in a large reservoir forming an integral part of the water supply to Sydney.

Potts Hill is a very large site: 116 hectares in total. Sydney Water no longer requires portions of the site in its western and eastern precincts and, in partnership with Landcom (the NSW Government land development agency), has developed options for redeveloping these areas.

Approximately 40 hectares of this land are being redeveloped and include a:

• 15.77 - hectare business park in the eastern precinct of the site, known as the Potts Hill Business Park
• 23.21 - hectare residential community for about 450 dwellings in the western precinct.

Project objectives

In all aspects, the redevelopment of the site is sensitive to the existing community and the local environment. The overall project objectives include:

• delivering ecologically sustainable development
• responding to the needs of the local population
• integrating with the existing locality, taking account of local transport, services and community facilities
• respecting and responding to the heritage value and natural environment of Potts Hill.

The Potts Hill Business Park was completed in 2010, and Sydney Water opened a new operational headquarters for about 450 staff, in January 2010. The newly constructed headquarters include a two-storey, 5,900 square metre office building and 6,800 square metre warehouse.

These new headquarters consolidate staff and inventory from a number of other decommissioned sites, to provide a more efficient operational centre for Sydney Water. The office has been designed and constructed to achieve a 5-star NABERS Energy and 5-star Green Star rating (Green Building Council Australia).

The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police), Ausgrid (formerly EnergyAustralia) and TransGrid have also purchased land in the business park. Construction of the NSW Police facility was completed in September 2011, with construction of TransGrid's 330 kV sub-station is scheduled to start in December 2011 with its completion forecast for July 2013.

Residential community

The residential community, to be undertaken by Landcom, will accommodate up to 450 dwellings. These dwellings will mainly be a mix of single houses and duplexes but may also include two smaller areas of medium density developments such as town houses, seniors housing and small apartments. The residential development will also include approximately four hectares of open space.