Parramatta North

A place of connection and renewal

A short tram ride from Westmead and the bustling Parramatta CBD, the Parramatta North precinct encompasses 42 hectares of predominantly government-owned land, currently accommodating 30 significant heritage buildings amongst a variety of public and less accessible open spaces. 

Rich in history and nestled on the river, it’s a truly special part of Western Sydney that presents a unique opportunity for urban renewal that will stitch the Parramatta CBD to the east together with the Westmead health and innovation district to the west. 

The NSW Government has long had the vision to unlock the under-utilised land and buildings across Parramatta North and sensitively transform the precinct into a harmonious and thriving collection of residential, educational and commercial neighbourhoods, connected by green corridors and beautiful public open spaces.

The detailed and carefully considered masterplan for Parramatta North provides the framework to realise this vision. This is a plan to shape a place of connection and renewal that brings together heritage, cultural history and natural open space alongside new housing, retail, leisure, innovation and educational facilities. It is a plan to create a place that honours Parramatta North’s past, celebrates its natural beauty and enriches it as an emerging Western Sydney destination. 

A revitalised Parramatta North will deliver a diversity of social and economic outcomes for Western Sydney, across a people-centred precinct that honours Aboriginal peoples’ connections to Country, respects important national heritage and fosters lasting community connections.

The new Parramatta North community connects the bustling Parramatta CBD with the Westmead Health and Innovation Precinct, finally combining these economic centres to establish Sydney’s new ‘Central River City’, long proposed, and now to be delivered. 

Unlocking the site’s full potential 

The NSW Government has now finalised the rezoning of 33 hectares of the Parramatta North precinct to enable the realisation of the precinct’s potential. In addition, the Government has confirmed the commencement of stage 1 works, the investment of $124.5 million enabling the delivery of essential infrastructure to transform the precinct, enhance its attributes and celebrate its historical significance. 

Rezoning and the finalised plan 

The rezoning unlocks the full potential of the North Paramatta precinct to enable the delivery of education, research, commercial, cultural and residential outcomes. To be delivered over 20-30 years, works to realise the potential of the rezoning will contribute thousands of new homes and jobs in the Central River City.

The finalised plan for the precinct responds to wide-ranging community feedback received during public exhibition in 2025. The rezoning amends permissible land uses, building heights and floor space ratios within the boundary of the rezoning. It introduces site-specific planning controls that will guide future state significant development applications, which must comply with the precinct design guide and mandated design excellence processes. 

Consistent with the NSW Government’s Westmead Place Strategy, which aims to establish the area as a premier health and innovation district, the rezoning provides for a new university campus on the western bank of Parramatta River.

Key features include: 

• around 2,000 new homes, including at least 100 affordable homes (this is in addition to the 500 potential homes on adjacent land already zoned for mixed-use development)
• a mix of building types ranging from 2 to 23 storeys high, scaled sensitively in response to their natural and heritage environments
• potential for up to 12,000 new jobs across health services, research, tertiary education and supporting industries
• a new university campus with potential for up to 25,000 students in support of the Westmead health and innovation district
• new and enhanced community facilities, including a multipurpose community facility in the upgraded, heritage-listed recreational hall, a new First Nations pavilion adjacent to a natural riverside play space, and enhanced spectator and user amenities adjacent to The Green 
• a Country-centred approach to landscape design through enhanced riparian corridors, replacing native species, water-sensitive urban design and natural play spaces
• up to 10 hectares of public open space, including sports fields, extended riverside pathways, parks and gardens, plazas and play spaces 
• and all accessed and connected by active transport routes linked to the broader Parramatta network.  

The finalised plan approved in the rezoning carefully balances housing, tertiary education, commercial and retail uses with the cultural history and important national heritage of Parramatta North. It incorporates a Country-centred approach to landscape design that focuses on repair and renewal and features native species and water-sensitive urban design.

Buildings with high or exceptional heritage significance will be conserved. The significance of this place is respected, with the number of new buildings and their height limits proposed in the rezoning having been reduced adjacent to the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct. The plan also protects significant trees, historical road layouts and key views through and to important heritage areas. 

Parramatta North is going to be an exceptionally beautiful place to live, learn, work and play. 

Parramatta North rezoning boundary map

Download the Parramatta North rezoning boundary map (PDF 865.96KB)

Stage 1 – Enabling infrastructure works

The NSW Government is driving this precinct vision with a $124.5 million investment, provided in the 2026-27 budget, to fund the design and delivery of essential infrastructure works that will enable the initial stages of the Parramatta North vision to be realised, to be delivered in partnership with the private sector. 

Over the next 5 or 6 years, under-utilised government-owned land will be progressively released for housing, jobs, and mixed-use development, driving new economic activity across the region. 

Enabling infrastructure works will include the water, stormwater, sewerage and power upgrades needed to make under-utilised government-owned sites ready for mixed-used residential, educational, employment and commercial development. 

Works will also include road upgrades, the delivery of enhanced open space, and additional social and community infrastructure. 

Around half of the precinct will be dedicated to public open space, creating an attractive destination for residents, workers, students and visitors, while respecting the natural and cultural heritage significance of the area. 

The staged development will ensure the precinct grows into a well-serviced destination that respects its significant cultural heritage, including Aboriginal people’s connections and significant buildings.

Respecting heritage

Respecting the heritage values across the precinct, the rezoning limits new development primarily to locations that have previous been built on, or separated from sensitive areas. 

Significant changes have been made in the final master plan to reduce building heights and building footprints between the light rail corridor and the heritage buildings of the Cultural Precinct to protect heritage sight lines, open up views to the buildings through increased open space, and create a buffer zone around the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct. 

Exceptional and high value heritage buildings will be retained, restored and preserved for adaptive reuse. 

It is anticipated that some intrusive, low and moderate value buildings which cannot be feasibly retained or adapted may be removed to enhance landscape setting and views. Any demolition would be subject to specific development applications that will include assessment against the Parramatta North Historic Sites Conservation Management Plan.

Reinforcing the importance of the Cultural Precinct

Parramatta North’s Cultural Precinct, a 6 hectare, national-heritage listed land parcel incorporating the site of the former Parramatta Female Factory, is not included in the land that has been rezoned and is not subject to future development. 

The Cultural Precinct has been on Australia’s National Heritage List since 2018. It is recognised for its significant cultural and social value to the nation as a place that reflects Australia's social welfare history.

From the pre-colonial times of the First Peoples to 19th century settlement, when the Parramatta’s modern institutional history began, the Cultural Precinct is a place where truths are told, and memories honoured – a place for education and healing.

The NSW Government is committed to keeping the Cultural Precinct in NSW Government ownership. Government investment to date has already funded the preservation, restoration and activation of a number of heritage buildings and spaces including the Western Sydney Startup Hub and the Parramatta Girls Home Memorial Garden. All works have and will continue to be delivered in accordance with the precinct’s conservation management plan. 

The Government will continue to ensure the history and stories of this important site will be maintained for generations to come. New and varied uses, including places for work, spaces to visit, and venues to explore, are planned for the future to continue to respect the heritage of this place and rejuvenate the sensitively restored historic buildings.
 

Heritage listing

The Female Factory is protected under the NSW Heritage Act 1977 (State Heritage Register) and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) (National Heritage List). These represent the highest levels of heritage protection available within both NSW and Australia for the site.

The Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct, which is part of the broader Parramatta North Cultural Precinct, was accepted as a Tentative World Heritage Site of Australia in September 2023. 

In February 2026, the Australian and NSW Governments were advised by UNESCO’s World Heritage advisory body, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), that the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct does not meet its criteria for World Heritage Listing. As a result, the nomination process was discontinued.

Honouring its place on Ngurra

Property and Development NSW acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and knowledge holders of Country, and pays respect to Ancestors and Elders while recognising ongoing connections to Country and culture. We seek to build ongoing relationships and collaborations in the celebration of culture and revitalisation of natural systems throughout the regeneration of this place.

Our collaborative approaches demonstrate our ongoing commitment to providing places in which Aboriginal people are included socially, culturally, spiritually and economically, in ways which prioritise the health of Country.  Our recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty is expressed with deep reverence, respect and commitment to Aboriginal protocols as we strive to move forward together into a better future. 

Property and Development NSW worked with the local Dharug people, as well as the Deerubbin Local Aboriginal Land Council, to understand the site, its culture and heritage and reflect the wishes of First Nations people in the plans for Parramatta North, which is the home of the Burramatta people of the Dharug Nation.