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Sydney Olympic Park is set to take on more homes and provide fewer jobs than originally proposed in the latest bid to turn the underused precinct into a “vibrant community”.
In the finalised master plan released on Wednesday, the Sydney Olympic Park Authority announced a total of 15,000 homes would be provided in the suburb by 2050 – an increase of 2000 from the draft master plan released in 2024.
It comes after the Herald revealed in April 2025 the Sydney Olympic Park Authority – a state government-owned body that falls under the Department of Planning – was considering increasing the number of homes allowed on the site.
Under the master plan, the homes would be delivered across five “diverse” neighbourhoods over the next 25 years, anchored by an urban centre that would provide jobs, retail uses, vibrant streets and regional public transport links. Only 54 hectares of the 640-hectare suburb are suitable for residential and commercial buildings.
The precinct, which was developed for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, has struggled to find its footing in the years that have followed. The streets are full of visitors during sports events and concerts but the precinct remains quiet on other days.
The finalised plan also revealed a reduction in the total number of jobs that would be provided. In the draft masterplan, up to 32,000 jobs were envisioned for the precinct by 2050, while the final plan has reduced this figure to 26,000 jobs, despite concerns previously raised by the local council.
The City of Parramatta Council, in its submission on the 2024 draft plan, criticised the masterplan’s proposal to increase dwellings while decreasing job capacity. “While the development of housing in [Sydney Olympic Park] is supported, this cannot come at the expense of its future role as an employment and commercial hub for all of Sydney,” the council said.
The council, under its own plan for 2050, envisions Sydney Olympic Park as an employment hub that would match every 1.5 new residents with more than one new job.
The latest master plan follows an unrealised 2016 proposal set for delivery by 2030, which had planned to provide an additional 10,000 new homes. The suburb now contains only 3061 homes, 99.8 per cent of which are units, according to the most recent census.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said Sydney Olympic Park remained a world-class hub for sport and entertainment, and that the master plan aligned housing growth with transport and infrastructure capacity so that “people can live, work and play close to home in a community they choose”.
“The 2050 masterplan builds on this, maintaining what we love most about the precinct while guiding growth, so the precinct can support up to 26,000 jobs and 15,000 homes by 2050,” he said.
The Sydney Morning Herald has a bureau in the heart of Parramatta. Email parramatta@smh.com.au with news tips.
Ellie Busby is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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