Billbergia unveils updated plans for Bennelong Cove, Wentworth Point masterplan

Burgeoning Sydney developer Billbergia has unveiled updated plans for its Bennelong Cove project, the final stage of the award-winning 11-hectare master-planned community at Wentworth Point in Sydney’s inner-west.

After years of strategic planning, a two-stage international design competition and on-going community consultation, an updated scheme by FJC Studio has been submitted for public exhibition by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

Comprising two residential towers of 40 storeys, the proposed development will deliver around 900 apartments.

The proposal also incorporates a waterfront promenade with amphitheatre, restaurants, cafes and a registered club and pub to activate the foreshore promenade with a major new park in the heart of the town centre. It’s accompanied by $70 million in new community and social infrastructure, under a Voluntary Planning Agreement submitted to City of Parramatta Council.

Subject to council approval, Billbergia has committed to new community infrastructure including a $36 million multi-purpose indoor sports and recreation centre, with outdoor courts, a 16,000 square metre park and foreshore promenade with picnic areas, play spaces and exercise areas, and a council-owned 90-place child care centre.

Billbergia has also committed to a second privately operated 90-place childcare centre and continued funding to operate the widely popular free Baylink shuttle bus service that connects residents to Rhodes station. Boasting more than 14,000 weekly passenger trips, the bus service has recently been upgraded to fully electric vehicles would operate under the agreement until the anticipated delivery of the Parramatta Light Rail in 2031.

The new proposed scheme is based on feedback from both Council and the community.

Saul Moran, Development Director of Planning and Design at Billbergia, said they’ve collaborated with the architects and an independent design excellence jury to address feedback on the earlier scheme.

“As a result, residential buildings are set back further from the water and have been reduced in height – consistent with the nearby Sekisui Sanctuary development,” Moran says.

“Billbergia has been involved in the Wentworth Point community for more than 15 years. In that time we’ve seen the transformation of the suburb from an underutilised former industrial site in 2008, to the thriving residential community it is today.

“Bennelong Cove is the critical final stage that will see the entire waterfront promenade activated and provide enhanced community infrastructure alongside the delivery of critically-needed new housing supply.”

According to Moran, Billbergia has placed strong emphasis on place-making and resident amenity in addition to delivering the necessary infrastructure for the growing suburb.

“Community feedback has shown us that more social and sporting infrastructure is also high on residents’ wish lists, revealing the value they place on waterfront access. We see the delivery of an activated foreshore promenade with greater open space and new leisure facilities as critical to this,” Moran added.

Wentworth Point was first rezoned for residential use in 2004 and declared a Priority Precinct in 2014. During this time it has grown to an estimated population of 14,500 people.

The growing community has been supported by significant public and private sector investment in community infrastructure resulting in the delivery of a primary school with a high school currently under construction, as well as a community centre and a library facility. In addition to new transport infrastructure, a medical centre and a neighbourhood shopping centre have also been delivered for the Wentworth Point community.

The Liveability Index rated Wentworth Point’s community and employability among the highest of all suburbs.

“Wentworth Point is a nationally-awarded showcase in urban regeneration and transport-oriented development. Our growing community is diverse and engaged, living in an affordable lifestyle precinct with easy access to retail, dining, education, health, sporting, and public transport,” Moran said.