Sewer Connection at Mount Kuring-Gai Industrial Area - 10 July 2008
Plumbers, drainers and property owners have attended an information session to begin the next phase of the long-awaited Mt Kuring-Gai Industrial Estate sewerage scheme.
Over 60 tradesmen met with pump manufacturers, council representatives and Sydney Water inspectors on Tuesday night to plan the process of connecting industrial properties to the near-complete pressurised sewer system.
Construction of the sewer system began in December 2007 and connections are due to begin in mid-2008, ending a thirty-year reliance on septic tank pump-out services.
"Approximately 80 properties in the Mount Kuring-gai Industrial Area will be able to connect to the new sewerage system," Sydney Water Managing Director, Kerry Schott, said in a statement. "It will improve the health of the local waterways by replacing on-site septic systems with a modern reticulated sewerage system."
Dr Schott said the system will save customers money once connected, reduce risks to public health from poorly performing on-site systems, improve public amenity and potentially boost property values.
Hornsby MP, Judy Hopwood, called for the $7.1 million project to be reconsidered last year, citing concerns over the use of pressurised systems.
"Under the new plan each business will have a 24-hour capacity tank and an electric pump," she told state parliament in June. "In light of the increasing focus on climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it seems short-sighted to force businesses to use and electric pump 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 365 days into the future."
Ms Hopwood did, however, concede the system would cut costs and minimise environmental impacts on the Berowra Valley Regional Park and catchment area.
The connection, part of the New South Wales Government's 1997 Priority Sewerage Program identifying areas requiring sewering, has been welcomed by businesses and property owners.
"Not only is there a cost imposition on properties with a pump-out service, it is a limitation of businesses coming to the area which generate waste water as part of their processing," says Simon Olding, managing director of Industrial Parks of Australia, who has developed three separate commercial properties in Mt Kuring-Gai Industrial Estate.
"With a regular sewerage connection, a greater range of companies can take advantage of the range of premises available as well as the pleasant bushland work environment and less expensive lease or purchase rates available we have here. It's really going to improve the area."
Mr Olding predicts it will give Mt Kuring-gai Industrial Estate another image boost and continue to lure North Shore industrial businesses to fringe areas. Comparatively low rents, proximity to the F3 Freeway and Central Coast, and the proposed tollway tunnel stretching eight kilometres beneath congested Pennant Hills Road, between Epping and Wahroonga, have seen an influx into the area over the past decade.
The estate has evolved from a low-cost and largely vacant hard-core industrial area to a thriving commercial precinct with almost all of the 80 available blocks committed or being re-developed.
Modern factory units, warehouses, showrooms and large factories dominate, including the $30 million Gateway Industrial Estate on Gundah Road - one of the largest industrial developments seen in Hornsby Shire.
As a further attraction, rental and sales rates in Mt Ku-ring-Gai are typically ten to fifteen percent below Hornsby and twenty-five to forty percent below Artarmon, Lane Cove and North Ryde.
Mt Ku-ring-Gai Industrial Estate Comes of Age - 15 May 2007
The recently completed development of the Gateway Industrial Estate by Industrial Parks of Australia and other industrial projects are proving the potential of the Mt Ku-ring-Gai industrial zone.
Twenty years ago, the area consisted of a few industrial blocks with many more vacant. Today, almost all of the 80 available blocks are committed or being re-developed. Modern factory units, warehouses and showrooms are home to dozens of small service, trades and distribution businesses. Larger businesses such as Art of Kitchens, Top Foods, Flo-crete Pumps, Arial Access, Shorelink Buses and Alto Automotive Group have helped create a compact but vibrant local commercial hub.
Located just off the Berowra F3 freeway exit ramp, the Mt Ku-ring-gai industrial precinct has proven to be an ideal location. It offers an attractive alternative to the fully developed and more congested industrial areas of Hornsby and Thornleigh with sites and warehouse space far larger than anywhere else on the north side. It is also popular with the large Central Coast workforce who can avoid the Sydney traffic in their daily commute.
As a further attraction, rental and sales rates in Mt Ku-ring-Gai are typically ten to fifteen percent below Hornsby and twenty-five to forty percent below Artarmon, Lane Cove and North Ryde.
Mayor Opens Latest Industrial Park - 27 April 2007
On 28th March last, Hornsby mayor, Cr Nick Berman, officially opened the first stage of Industrial Parks of Australia's latest 11 acre industrial park at Mt Ku-ring Gai in Sydney's north.
"This project is one of the largest industrial developments seen in Hornsby Shire and is now well under way with the completion of the first half of 23,000 square metres of high quality factory warehouse and office accommodation which will host employment for over 200 people as well as the injection of investment to the local economy during construction." said Cr Berman on unveiling a plaque in front of over sixty local business people, including property professionals and the project development partners to Industrial Parks of Australia.
The $30 million project, located in Gundah Rd, Mt Ku-ring-gai, will provide businesses with a size and standard of larger industrial park factory, office and warehouse space suitable for wholesale distribution, fabrication and light manufacturing not otherwise available on the north side. So far, 70% of stage one has been leased with Stage 2 planned for completion in mid 2008.
Opening of the First Stage of the Mt Ku-ring-Gai Industrial Park.
From left: Simon Olding (IPA); Hornsby Shire Council Mayor Cr Nick Berman; Phil Shaw (IPA).
