Updated: May 17, 2024
Sydney Metro Review and Recommendations:The 2024 review on the Sydney Metro project has been completed, with the final report released on December 7, 2023. The review aimed to maximise project value, recommending better land use, urban renewal, and improved integration with the wider transport network. It indicated that the Sydney Metro West project is targeting an opening date around 2030. Additionally, it recommended scoping studies for up to two new stations west of Sydney Olympic Park, including one at Rosehill Gardens.
Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 Cancellation:The cancellation of Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 highlights the challenges and uncertainties landowners face when government plans shift. For more detailed insights and legal assistance on
compulsory acquisitions projects in Sydney, contact FM Legal.
Labor leader Chris Minns announced that his party would support only two of the four Metro lines proposed by the government: a loop connecting Westmead, Parramatta, Olympic Park and Ryde; and an extension from Bankstown to Liverpool.
He said Labor would conduct a feasibility study into a fast rail network linking regional centres with Sydney instead of building more Metro lines in the city.
“We need a balanced approach that invests in both metropolitan and regional NSW,” he said. "We can’t afford to waste billions of dollars on projects that don’t stack up."
But Transport Minister Rob Stokes slammed Labor’s decision as “short-sighted” and “irresponsible,” saying it would jeopardise thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment. If there is a total abandonment of the rail, then the legal rights of the former owner may entitle them to buy back the land that was acquired. Those owners in the above areas may have this legal right. However, this has only happened once in the past and the former landowner has to pay the market value of the land at the time it is offered back to them. Most owners would have already repurchased replacement land by the time of being offered to buy back their former land so it is a legal right that is going to be very limited in its use. The changes of the full project being abandoned though may take years, by which time another change in government could reverse the decision again! In land acquisition, there is very little certainty which is why most owners sell and replace their land as it is the safest option.
