Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

P O Box K606

Haymarket NSW 1240

27 February 2026

Planning and Assessment
Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure
Locked Bag 5022
4 Parramatta Square, 12 Darcy St
Parramatta NSW 2124
Submitted via website form: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/draftplans/exhibition/statewide-policy-industrial-lands

Submission on the Industrial Lands plan

Action for Public Transport (NSW) ("APTNSW") is a transport advocacy group which has been active in Sydney since 1974. We promote the interests of beneficiaries of public transport - passengers and the wider community alike.

This submission is on the Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands (December 2025) downloaded from the website shown above.

We note that the policy is intended to assure the supply of suitable industrial land as the population increases by about 1 million. That is a tall order. Our particular concern is that suitable transport provision, especially public transport, must be included in the planning.

Jobs in the industrial workforce are likely to be filled by people who are new to the workforce - recent immigrants and young people at the very start of their careers - and that these people will overall have a lower rate of car ownership, relying on public or active transport for their journey to work.

We refer to the sentence

Accessible to businesses and communities: Industrial precincts should be well connected to workforce catchments and service providers via public and private transport networks.

A standard should be set for proposed new industrial sites that as a minimum there must be bus services connecting all workplaces in the site.
We would suggest something like:

There must be a bus stop within 400 metres' walk of all places where employees present for duty.
The service must run at least once hourly on working days from 6am to 5pm .
The service must always have at least enough capacity for the expected demand at that time.
The service must connect with public services outside or if there be no such outside services the service must connect with a large residential or commercial centre nearby.

It is a fact of transport planning that passengers prefer rail transport, including metro and light rail, over buses because of comfort and the legibility of the service. However, passenger levels that would warrant rail are rarely seen on industrial land.

There should also be a standard for active transport requiring pathways connecting workplaces to outside at suitable points, preferably in more than one direction, including one to each bus stop outside. These help safety by keeping people clear of vehicles within the industrial land.

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