Draft St Marys Town Centre Master Plan

• ​What is the strategic planning pathway for St Marys Town Centre?

• The St Marys planning pathway – known as St Marys 2041 - comprises a place-based process to guide planning and development in the St Marys Town Centre over the next 20 years. The planning pathway has three stages:

  • Stage 1 was the development of a Structure Plan, which sets a vision, 10 place outcomes and 26 directions for the St Marys Town Centre. This Plan was adopted in November 2022. This stage also involved the preparation of a Place Plan to support the community through the change that is coming and bring St Marys to life in the short term.
  • Stage 2 involves preparation of a Master Plan. This Plan will further refine the directions outlined in the Structure Plan and contain the design detail for specific streets and precincts in St Marys. A key component of the vision for St Marys is a new ‘central park’. This project is both complementary to, and progressing alongside, the Master Plan.
  • Stage 3 involves implementing the Master Plan through amendments to local planning controls.

  Together, the St Marys planning pathway will provide certainty to landowners and investors going forward, and help inform Council’s infrastructure delivery in St Marys.

  For more information refer to the St Marys Town Centre Planning Pathway Factsheet on this web page.

• Why is Council developing a planning pathway for St Marys Town Centre?

• St Marys is witnessing significant transformation and becoming an important centre in Western Sydney. The new Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport line will connect St Marys to the world and bring more people, jobs and services to the area.

  Council is preparing for this growth and change through careful planning to help guide development of the St Marys Town Centre over the next 20 years to realise the needs and aspirations of current and future residents, businesses, and visitors.

  The St Marys Town Centre Structure Plan and Master Plan form part of Council’s Places of Penrith Strategic Framework comprising a suite of City-wide strategies that will collectively establish a vision and directions for our Local Government Area.

• What is a Master Plan?

• A Master Plan is a long-term plan that provides a road map to guide future growth and change in one of our centres over the coming decades.

  Master Plans have an important role in determining the look, feel and function of the urban environment. A Master Plan helps manage growth to ensure orderly development, while preserving local character and the unique qualities of an area, and encouraging economic development and infrastructure improvements.

  The St Marys Town Centre Master Plan will guide building heights, design, density, sustainability, movement, land use zoning, open spaces and infrastructure.

• How has the draft Master Plan been prepared?

• The draft Master Plan has been developed with input from the St Marys community and stakeholders, and has involved extensive place-based research, collaboration and evidence-based planning and design.

  The Master Plan follows on from the vision and place outcomes identified in the earlier Structure Plan. It has also been informed by a series of supporting technical studies that investigated matters including urban ecology, traffic, integrated water management and local heritage.

• What are the key moves proposed in the Master Plan?

• The draft Master Plan establishes a spatial framework plan for the St Marys Town Centre that includes these twelve key moves:

  1. Rejuvenation of Queen Street as a mixed-use ‘high street’ entertainment and dining precinct complemented by residential and commercial uses, and priority/dedicated infrastructure for pedestrians and bike riders.

  2. An enlivened Civic Heart Precinct, including a new ‘Central Park’ and future Library and Community Hub.

  3. A consolidated Commercial Core complemented by a new co-working and creative hub of activity on the northern approach to the Town Centre.

  4. Retention of the productive and diverse industrial precinct north of Harris Street.

  5. Retention of the low-scale Historic Living Precinct with a strong connection to St Marys’ rich past, sensitively intensified to support housing growth in a transit-oriented centre.

  6. Greater housing choice with diversity of dwelling typologies close to transport, jobs, services and amenity.

  7. A peripheral vehicular movement corridor around the Town Centre Core streamlining through-traffic and bus movement, protecting Queen Street’s ‘place’ function.

  8. Consolidation of public car parking spaces into multi-deck structures accessible via the peripheral movement corridor, enabling redevelopment opportunities within the Town Centre.

  9. An enhanced public domain and active transport network with improved pedestrian permeability, including legible and efficient connections to St Marys train/metro stations and the Civic Heart for pedestrians and bike riders.

  10. New and improved public open spaces.

  11. Multifunctional infrastructure to improve waterway health and management as well as biodiversity, open space and sustainability outcomes.

  12. Enhanced connections to Wianamatta South Creek and restoration of the creek corridor.

• How different is the Master Plan from what is already planned?

• The St Marys Town Centre has existing planning controls in place that permit a range of high density mixed-use and residential uses. These controls have been in place for several years under Penrith Local Environmental Plan 2010, however have only led to a handful of development outcomes. Therefore, there is significant zoned capacity for dwellings and jobs currently in the Town Centre.

  Notwithstanding, the draft Master Plan would see St Marys Town Centre grow to accommodate more homes, businesses and jobs to fulfil its role as a strategic centre. It provides a theoretical capacity for nearly 1.5 times more dwellings than the existing planning controls. It could also provide for around 460 more jobs than the existing planning controls. Importantly, the Master Plan has tested proposed new and updated planning controls against a range of measures to ensure they are achievable and support more feasible development outcomes, whilst also delivering the outcomes sought through the Master Plan.

  However, the Master Plan is a 20 year plan and it could take even longer to realise these theoretical dwelling and job figures. Realistically, we might expect around half the capacity to be taken up in the next 20 years – meaning around 1,800 more dwellings than already planned.

• What is the St Marys Central Park Project?

• Building the St Marys Central Park is an integral part of Council's vision to transform St Marys into a vibrant, welcoming and sustainable Town Centre. The new park will be the civic green heart of St Marys, attracting residents and visitors into the Town Centre to meet, socialise, enjoy passive and active recreation, and experience events and performances.

  For more information, refer to the St Marys Central Park Project tab on this web page.

• How does the Master Plan relate to the NSW Government’s announcement of a potential Transport Oriented Development (TOD) site at St Marys?

• In 2024 the NSW Government implemented its Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Program to facilitate more affordable, well-designed and well-located homes within 400 metres of specific stations. St Marys has been earmarked as one of these stations. In recognition of the Structure Plan and Master Plan work that Council has already undertaken for St Marys, the NSW Government granted Council an extension to the application of the TOD reforms until April 2025.

  Council has pursued the St Marys Town Centre Master Plan process because it believes that a more place-based and nuanced planning and urban design outcome can be achieved by this strategic approach – particularly taking account of the significant amount of community engagement and technical input that has taken place in the preparation of the draft Master Plan.

  The Master Plan may negate the implementation of the TOD reforms, or at least recommend the manner in which the TOD reforms amend planning controls in St Marys. In either case, Council is committed to delivering on our community’s vision for the St Marys Town Centre.

• How will the Master Plan be implemented and what changes are proposed to planning controls?

• The draft Master Plan sets out specific tasks and actions required for implementation. The major immediate task will involve amending the planning controls and mechanisms that currently apply to St Marys, in particular the Local Environmental Plan (LEP), Development Control Plan (DCP) and Local Infrastructure Contributions Plan (LICP).

  Some of the proposed changes that can be expected are as follows:

  • Local Environmental Plan (LEP) – changes to zoning in select locations, increases to permissible building heights and floor space ratios across much of the Town Centre, and mandating a minimum amount of non-residential floor space in areas of the Commercial Core where it is important to boost economic activity.
  • Development Control Plan (DCP) – changes to building setbacks from the street, podium heights and solar amenity controls. The DCP controls would also identify important components around establishing the desired future character of the Town Centre, such as through-site links, active transport connections, dwelling mix, building envelopes and tree planting.
  • Local Infrastructure Contributions Plan (LICP) – adopting a new LICP so that future development within the Town Centre contributes to the cost of new and upgraded local infrastructure.

  Further information on planning control changes can be found in the Explanation of Intended Effect (EIE) document that is currently on public exhibition.

• What changes are proposed to building heights?

• The maximum building heights currently permitted in the St Marys Town Centre range from 8.5 metres to 61 metres (approximately 18 storeys). The majority of Queen Street currently has a maximum building height of 24 metres (approximately 7-8 storeys). The draft Master Plan puts forward a recommendation to increase the potential height and density of future buildings in several areas of the St Marys Town Centre.

  Building heights are proposed to increase most significantly closest to St Marys Station (particularly within a 400 metres radius). For instance, the maximum building height proposed in the draft Master Plan is 61 metres. This is the maximum height already permitted in St Marys under Council’s current planning controls, however it is proposed to apply this height to a larger area.

  Between Station Street and Phillip Street, the proposed maximum heights would vary from 50.5 metres (around 15 storeys) to 61 metres. Building heights would then transition to deliver lower buildings as you move further away from the station. There are some areas proposed to retain their single and two storey character, such as parts of the Historic Living (Duration Cottages) precinct with an 8.5 metre height limit.

  Importantly, the draft Master Plan has not applied a ‘blanket’ or ‘broad-brush’ approach to building height increases. Instead, detailed urban design analysis and modelling has been undertaken to ensure the proposed building heights are sensitive to surrounding buildings and uses, allow sunlight to access important open spaces and streets, are achievable, and applied equitably irrespective of land ownership.

  As the population of St Marys grows, taller buildings can help accommodate more residents in close proximity to public transport, and make more efficient use of existing land. It is also expected that the increases in height and density will make development in St Marys more economically feasible – thereby helping to attract businesses and investors, boosting the local economy and creating jobs.

• How can the community and other stakeholders provide feedback on the Master Plan and proposed planning controls?

• The draft St Marys Town Centre Master Plan was put on public exhibition from the 1 - 30 November 2024.

• What are the next steps in the planning pathway?

• Following public exhibition of the draft Master Plan, Council will review any submissions received (together with the online survey results and feedback forms) and consider adopting the Master Plan - potentially with suggested amendments that have come to light through the exhibition process. This is anticipated to occur in early-mid 2025.

  If the Master Plan is adopted by Council, we will seek to expedite the recommended changes to the LEP as described in the Explanation of Intended Effect (EIE) document.

  At the same time, it is expected that a Development Control Plan (DCP) and Local Infrastructure Contributions Plan (LICP) would be prepared and publicly exhibited in early 2025.

  This timeframe for implementation of the master planning process has been driven by the NSW Government’s announcement of St Marys as a potential Transport Oriented Development (TOD) site - specifically deferral of the policy applying to St Marys, which would lapse in April 2025.