The project aimed to deliver a consistent, evidence based framework for the planning, categorisation, and management of industrial lands across metropolitan and regional NSW.

The work responds to critical issues including an acute shortfall in development-ready industrial land, escalating land values and rents, and increasing pressure on
businesses and supply chains.

Our role involved strategic policy development, research and benchmarking, spatial analysis, and stakeholder engagement. We supported the design of the categorisation framework which classifies industrial lands as State significant, regionally significant, or locally significant based on a set of strategic principles and metrics. We also contributed to the development of implementation pathways, including planning processes for intensification, recategorisation, and consideration of alternative uses.

The final Policy supports a more coordinated and transparent approach to managing industrial lands, enabling better alignment with housing and infrastructure planning, safeguarding key economic assets, and promoting innovation and economic diversification.

Mecone, in collaboration with JLL, supported DPHI in the preparation of the Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands. Mecone provided strategic planning, policy and engagement advice and prepared the following:

• Policy research and benchmarking
• Strategic planning context review
• Industrial lands supply and demand analysis
• Spatial analysis and mapping inputs
• Development of the industrial lands categorisation framework
• Identification of State significant, regionally significant and locally significant industrial lands
• Development of strategic principles and assessment metrics
• Stakeholder engagement planning and support
• Analysis of stakeholder feedback