The media release below was issued by Western Parkland City Authority.

Western Parkland Councils launch regional data website

In an Australian first, the Western Parkland Councils have united to make the first of their common data sets available to the public in real time.

The data hub is in its initial phase and capturing 3.5 million data points per month to provide a current, regional snapshot of pedestrian and vehicle movement, hyperlocal weather and heat conditions, air and water quality collected through a sensor network at more than 100 locations across the Western Parkland City.

The data hub is composed of nine federated data portals: one Western Parkland City parent portal and one portal for each of the eight councils involved.

The data portals currently offer a catalogue of more than 150 datasets across all councils including local business directories, waste collections, LGA and ward boundaries as well as proactively released data sets as decided by each Council.

The project has been developed by the Western Parkland Councils (Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Liverpool, Penrith and Wollondilly) with the support of the Australian and NSW governments to help realise the Western Sydney City Deal commitment to connect communities, drive innovation and improve service delivery across the city.

The project also involved the collaboration with the University of New South Wales and University of Wollongong and seven vendors to provide hardware, software and data analytics services.

Last week, the data hub was recognised by the peak Australian Internet of Things (IoT) industry body, IoT Alliance, who announced it as a finalist in their national Smart Cities Award category.

Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP said the project was supported with $700,000 from the Morrison Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs program.

“This initiative, delivered under the Western Sydney City Deal, will help connect communities across the Western Parkland City and enable them to share insights that will inform planning decisions and lead to improved liveability and business outcomes.

“The Morrison Government is investing billions of dollars in critical infrastructure across Western Sydney including in the new Western Sydney International Airport, the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport rail link, and the M12, as well as through the city deal.

“This record investment will help attract businesses, jobs and investment to the Western Parkland City, and provide high quality local jobs and education, well planned urban spaces, and great transport connections for its residents.” 

Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism, Industry and Trade and Western Sydney, the Hon Stuart Ayres, said: “This data hub is critical in one of the fastest-growing regions of Australia – the Western Parkland City. It’s going to enable us to anticipate planning needs based on what people are doing – where they walk, where they drive, what the weather is doing and more in real time.”

“The Western Parkland City will grow from 1.1 million to more than 1.7 million in 20 years’ time and we are supporting the growth of 200,000 jobs. It will be a place where people live, work and spend their free time. Quality data will help bring this new city to life,” Mr Ayres said.

“We want to better understand how people use our towns and villages, and plan accordingly. For example, sensors in Katoomba Street are currently giving us data that we will be able to use for the masterplan that is underway. This information will help inform decisions for both pedestrians and parking. It’s a valuable tool,” he said.

“Camden Council is focused on creating an area in which people love to live, work, play and visit, and using smart data like this will help us do just that. Being able to better understand trends, uses and needs from across the area will allow us to make the best possible, most informed decisions around infrastructure planning and upgrading. Having the data available to our residents will also help bring them along for the journey. Being able to access, share and interpret this information will only lead to better outcomes for our residents and a greater relationship between these eight councils and the fantastic communities we serve,” said Mayor of Camden, Cr Therese Fedeli.

“The portal makes important data sets for Campbelltown accessible for all, helping the public and our business communities better understand important trends within the region. By taking a collaborative approach across three levels of government, including with our neighbouring Councils, we can ensure better outcomes for communities and support our region’s continued growth with data-driven decision making,” Mayor of Campbelltown, Cr George Brticevic said.

“Fairfield City Council has been gathering smart data on moisture and lighting levels in our sporting fields and linking this data through smart technology to improve their quality. We are pleased to be able to share this data through the open data portal, along with other data, for the community’s information and benefit,” said Mayor of Fairfield City, Cr Frank Carbone.

 “Capturing and translating this data enables our Council, neighbouring Councils and the State Government to make better and more informed planning decisions. With it, we can decide what infrastructure needs to be built or upgraded and where, including community facilities, roads and footpaths, green spaces and parks, and employment spaces. It also means our residents can see the same information we are using to make these important decisions. This added transparency builds trust and provides our communities with the information they need to partner with us in the decision-making process. This will provide opportunities to strengthen our local economy and the liveability of our City,” said Mayor of Hawkesbury, Cr Patrick Conolly.

“This information helps to streamline processes and allows local governments to deliver better informed services, spaces and facilities for the community that will improve the liveability of our city. Council is pleased to be a part of this fantastic initiative and is committed to further exploring innovative ways to foster decision-making and better outcomes for communities across the Western Parklands City.” said Mayor of Liverpool, Cr Wendy Waller.

“While we are separate cities, we are one region. It’s my hope that collating and sharing data on a common platform will help us create regionally beneficial transport and pedestrian solutions and provide beneficial oversight on environmental issues like heat. This is another example of the Western Parkland Councils working together to improve outcomes for our communities,” said Mayor of Penrith, Cr Karen McKeown OAM.

“With a fast-growing population it is important that we find new and innovative ways of providing essential services to our community. This information will help us advocate for our communities and enable policy changes, help to streamline processes and allow local councils to deliver better services while increasing community participation and transparency,” said Wollondilly Mayor, Cr Robert Khan.

The aggregated data can be analysed at a regional level and presented in digestible visual formats such as storyboards, dashboards, graphs, maps and charts.

The Western Parkland City data website:

Explore — Western Parkland Councils (nsw.gov.au)

Further information on the Western Sydney City Deal is available at:

www.infrastructure.gov.au/territories-regions-cities/cities/city-deals/western-sydney