Sydney's industrial-land total narrows at each supply test
The Sydney Plan classifies 22,971 hectares of industrial land. Regional precincts account for 18,007 hectares, or 78% of that total. State precincts account for 4,028 hectares and local precincts for 936 hectares.
Those areas show policy importance and geographic extent. They do not show that sites have services, resolved planning issues or a clear path to construction.
Regional precincts contain 78% of the Plan's classified industrial-land area
The Plan's three classifications sum to 22,971 hectares. The categories describe policy roles, not development readiness.
- State4,028 ha
- Regional18,007 ha
- Local936 ha
- Regional share
- 78%
- 18,007 of 22,971 classified hectares
- State share
- 18%
- 4,028 classified hectares
- Local share
- 4%
- 936 classified hectares
The 2025 monitor uses a separate land measure
The 2025 Employment Lands Development Monitor records 20,210.2 hectares of zoned employment land in 381 Greater Sydney precincts at January 2025. It records 7,166 hectares as undeveloped. The monitor also reports access to wastewater and B-double roads.
The monitor total is not a newer version of the Plan's 22,971 hectares. The sources have different definitions and dates. We do not subtract one from the other or describe the difference as a loss of land.
Only 384.5 monitored undeveloped hectares pass both published access checks
The bars share the 7,166-hectare undeveloped denominator. Wastewater and heavy-vehicle access do not cover electricity, digital networks, environmental constraints or resolved planning issues.
- Undeveloped employment land7,166 ha
- Heavy-vehicle access4,226.4 ha
- Wastewater access631.6 ha
- Both access types384.5 ha
- Undeveloped share
- 35.5%
- 7,166 of 20,210.2 zoned hectares
- Wastewater access
- 8.8%
- Share of monitored undeveloped land
- Both access types
- 5.4%
- 384.5 of 7,166 undeveloped hectares
Four measures must remain separate
The 2025 monitor no longer calls land with a wastewater connection alone "serviced land". The Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands uses a broader definition. Serviced land needs water, wastewater, roads and electricity.
Development-ready land has a higher test. Enabling infrastructure must be in place, key planning issues must be resolved, controls must enable development and evidence must show that construction can start.
A zoning label starts the supply test
Each step asks a different question. Passing one step does not prove the next.
- Classify land
Record the state, regional or local policy role and the applicable controls.
- Check monitored access
Test wastewater and heavy-vehicle access without calling either test complete servicing.
- Check full servicing
Confirm water, wastewater, roads and electricity for the land under review.
- Test development readiness
Resolve planning issues and confirm that infrastructure and controls allow construction to start.
LGA percentages need the hectare base beside them
The LGA results show why a Sydney-wide total is not enough. Liverpool has 2,156.8 monitored undeveloped hectares, but 65.6 hectares pass both access checks. Penrith has 2,743.5 undeveloped hectares and 60.4 hectares pass both. Their shares are 3.0% and 2.2%.
Some established LGAs have a high percentage on a very small base. The City of Sydney has 3.7 hectares with both access types out of 5.9 undeveloped hectares. The percentage is 62.7%, but the area is small. The accessible table keeps the hectares beside every percentage.
The share passing both monitored access checks varies by LGA
The map divides hectares with both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access by each LGA's monitored undeveloped hectares. It does not map development-ready land.
- Liverpool3.0%
- Penrith2.2%
- No undeveloped denominator
- 5% or less
- >5% to 15%
- >15% to 50%
- More than 50%
The denominator is each LGA's monitored undeveloped employment-land area. A high share can represent a small hectare base. The two access checks do not establish development readiness.
View all 33 mapped values
| Local government area | Both-access share | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Strathfield | 72.9% | 17.2 of 23.6 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Sydney | 62.7% | 3.7 of 5.9 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Ryde | 54.7% | 2.9 of 5.3 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Canada Bay | 50.0% | 0.1 of 0.2 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Parramatta | 49.9% | 37.4 of 74.9 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Northern Beaches | 45.2% | 2.8 of 6.2 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | 37.1% | 14.2 of 38.3 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Georges River | 29.6% | 0.8 of 2.7 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Bayside | 29.2% | 1.4 of 4.8 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Burwood | 20.0% | 0.0 of 0.1 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Fairfield | 17.9% | 38.9 of 217.9 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Campbelltown | 15.6% | 24.6 of 157.7 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Randwick | 15.0% | 0.3 of 2.0 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Willoughby | 14.3% | 0.1 of 0.7 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Cumberland | 13.3% | 8.9 of 67.1 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Inner West | 10.5% | 2.2 of 21.0 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Blacktown | 8.2% | 62.8 of 765.9 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Sutherland | 8.1% | 12.9 of 160.0 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Camden | 7.9% | 17.0 of 215.3 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Wollondilly | 3.9% | 8.1 of 209.5 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Liverpool | 3.0% | 65.6 of 2,156.8 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Penrith | 2.2% | 60.4 of 2,743.5 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Hawkesbury | 2.0% | 0.8 of 39.1 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Hornsby | 1.2% | 0.2 of 16.6 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| The Hills | 0.6% | 1.2 of 184.8 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Blue Mountains | 0.0% | 0.0 of 44.1 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Lane Cove | 0.0% | 0.0 of 1.1 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| North Sydney | 0.0% | 0.0 of 0.9 monitored undeveloped hectares have both wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. |
| Hunters Hill | Not applicable | The monitor records no undeveloped employment-land denominator for this LGA. |
| Ku-ring-gai | Not applicable | The monitor records no undeveloped employment-land denominator for this LGA. |
| Mosman | Not applicable | The monitor records no undeveloped employment-land denominator for this LGA. |
| Waverley | Not applicable | The monitor records no undeveloped employment-land denominator for this LGA. |
| Woollahra | Not applicable | The monitor records no undeveloped employment-land denominator for this LGA. |
Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, LGA 2025 boundaries, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Boundary source. Statistical boundaries are approximate and are not legal or cadastral boundaries.
Take-up and pipeline requirements measure different stages
Greater Sydney recorded 194 hectares of employment-land take-up in 2024. The monitor defines take-up as lots larger than 100 square metres that changed from undeveloped to developed during the year. It says this result was 15% below 2023 and 20% above its long-term average.
The Sydney Plan separately reports average take-up of about 165 hectares a year over the previous seven years. It also says a healthy pipeline needs development-ready supply at about 250 hectares a year. The 250-hectare figure is a forward planning requirement. It is not observed take-up and it is not a measured shortage.
Observed take-up and a development-ready pipeline answer different questions
The three values are shown together to expose their different periods and definitions. The difference between them is not a calculated supply deficit.
- Rounded seven-year take-up averageabout 165 ha/yr
- Observed 2024 take-up194 ha
- Development-ready pipeline requirementabout 250 ha/yr
- Observed in 2024
- 194 ha
- Annual land-use change under the ELDM method
- Historical average
- about 165 ha/yr
- Rounded seven-year figure in the Plan
- Pipeline requirement
- about 250 ha/yr
- Forward development-ready supply measure
Site decisions need service, planning and delivery evidence
A regional zoning total is the first measure. Site decisions also need evidence about infrastructure, the planning position and the path to development.
For strategic planning, report the classified area and the supply stage. For a site decision, verify current controls, infrastructure capacity, constraints, ownership and market feasibility. Do not use a regional hectare total as a parcel conclusion.
Methodology, limitations and sources
Source reconciliation
We checked the downloaded Plan and Appendix E files against the frozen series hashes. We transcribed Main Plan Table 4 and the supply statements on pages 80 to 82. We did not derive local values from the Appendix E maps.
We then checked the February 2026 monitor page, summary report and official Greater Sydney workbook. The 33 LGA rows reconcile to the Greater Sydney totals within 0.1 hectare.
Geography
The map joins the official LGA workbook rows to frozen Australian Bureau of Statistics LGA 2025 codes. The boundaries are statistical approximations, not legal or cadastral boundaries. The map shows an LGA aggregate and cannot locate available industrial sites.
Database assessment
We did not use a Plynth database extract. The official monitor already supplies the relevant primary aggregate, and no approved read-only Plynth surface added a distinct industrial-land servicing measure to this question.
Limitations
- The Plan's 22,971 hectares and the monitor's 20,210.2 hectares have different definitions and dates. They are not a time series.
- Zoned, undeveloped, serviced and development-ready land are separate measures.
- Wastewater and heavy-vehicle access do not cover every infrastructure, planning, environmental or market constraint.
- Take-up records past land-use change. It does not measure unmet demand.
- The pipeline requirement is a planning benchmark, not a forecast or a measured deficit.
- LGA totals do not establish parcel availability, feasibility or approval.