More than half of Sydney's undeveloped industrial land has heavy-vehicle road access but no published wastewater access
The 2025 monitor publishes overlapping wastewater and heavy-vehicle access totals for 7,166 hectares of undeveloped employment land. Cross-classifying those totals produces four mutually exclusive states.
The largest state is 3,841.9 hectares with heavy-vehicle access but no published wastewater access. That is 53.6% of the undeveloped total. A further 2,692.5 hectares, or 37.6%, have neither published access type. Only 631.6 hectares, or 8.8%, have wastewater access with or without heavy-vehicle access.
53.6% of Sydney's undeveloped industrial land has heavy-vehicle road access but no published wastewater access
The chart compares published heavy-vehicle road and wastewater access across all 7,166 monitored undeveloped hectares. The large road-without-wastewater share shows why the two infrastructure inputs need to be checked together.
- Heavy-vehicle access, no wastewater3,841.9 ha
- No published access to either2,692.5 ha
- Heavy-vehicle and wastewater access384.5 ha
- Wastewater access, no heavy-vehicle247.1 ha
- Road access, no wastewater
- 53.6%
- 3,841.9 of 7,166 undeveloped hectares
- No published access to either
- 37.6%
- 2,692.5 undeveloped hectares
- Any wastewater access
- 8.8%
- 631.6 undeveloped hectares
Three councils combine 82.8% of Sydney's road-without-wastewater land with 45.5% of industrial approvals
Liverpool, Penrith and Blacktown contain the three largest areas with heavy-vehicle access but no published wastewater access. Together they account for 3,179.5 hectares, or 82.8% of Sydney's heavy-vehicle-access and no-wastewater total.
Joining those councils to the monitor's demand workbook adds a second signal. They recorded $1.446 billion of industrial building approvals in 2024, equal to 45.5% of Greater Sydney's $3.177 billion total by value.
Blacktown, Liverpool and Penrith hold 82.8% of Sydney's heavy-vehicle road access without wastewater area
The bars show undeveloped hectares with heavy-vehicle access but no published wastewater access. The approval-value comparison is a separate LGA-level activity measure.
- Liverpool1,406.2 ha
- Penrith1,198.8 ha
- Blacktown574.5 ha
- Sydney road/no-wastewater share
- 82.8%
- 3,179.5 of 3,841.9 hectares
- 2024 industrial approvals
- $1.446bn
- Value recorded across the three councils
- Share of Sydney approvals
- 45.5%
- By estimated value of industrial building work
Three councils are the priority for precinct-level servicing and feasibility analysis
The approval measure includes new buildings and refurbishments above $50,000. It provides an LGA-level measure of recent industrial building-work value. Used with the access states, it locates where the two evidence streams overlap.
The same three councils combine a large road-without-wastewater area with a large share of recent industrial approval value. Their precincts are therefore the priority for testing service capacity, planning controls, environmental constraints, ownership and market feasibility in more detail.
The Sydney Plan sets the strategic supply context
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 establish policy importance and geographic extent. A site-level assessment then adds service capacity, resolved planning issues and 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; service capacity and development readiness are assessed separately.
- 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 Plan classifies 22,971 hectares while the monitor tracks 20,210.2 hectares of zoned employment land
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 Plan and monitor describe separate land sets with different definitions and dates. We keep each total in its own analytical frame.
Industrial land moves from classification to access, servicing and development readiness
The 2025 monitor reports wastewater access as one infrastructure field. The Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands uses a broader serviced-land definition that includes 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 and requires its own evidence.
- Classify land
Record the state, regional or local policy role and the applicable controls.
- Check monitored access
Record published wastewater and heavy-vehicle access for the monitored land.
- 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.
Industrial access percentages need the hectare base beside them
The LGA results add the local distribution behind the Sydney-wide total. Liverpool has 2,156.8 monitored undeveloped hectares, of which 65.6 hectares have published wastewater and heavy-vehicle access. Penrith has 2,743.5 undeveloped hectares and 60.4 hectares with 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 published wastewater and heavy-vehicle access 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.
Published wastewater and heavy-vehicle access varies sharply across Sydney's industrial land
The map divides hectares with published wastewater and heavy-vehicle access by each LGA's monitored undeveloped hectares. The hectare base shows whether a high share represents a large or small industrial-land area; service capacity, planning controls and feasibility form the next precinct-level test.
- Liverpool3.0%
- Penrith2.2%
- No monitored undeveloped land
- 5% or less
- >5% to 15%
- >15% to 50%
- More than 50%
Each percentage divides hectares with published heavy-vehicle road and wastewater access by the LGA's monitored undeveloped employment-land area. The table keeps the percentage and hectare base together.
View all 33 mapped values
| Local government area | Road and wastewater 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 | No monitored land | The monitor records zero hectares of undeveloped employment land for this LGA. |
| Ku-ring-gai | No monitored land | The monitor records zero hectares of undeveloped employment land for this LGA. |
| Mosman | No monitored land | The monitor records zero hectares of undeveloped employment land for this LGA. |
| Waverley | No monitored land | The monitor records zero hectares of undeveloped employment land for this LGA. |
| Woollahra | No monitored land | The monitor records zero hectares of undeveloped employment land for this LGA. |
Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, LGA 2025 boundaries, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Boundary source. The map uses ABS statistical boundaries for LGA comparison.
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. Read the 194-hectare value as observed annual change and the 250-hectare value as a desired pipeline rate.
Observed take-up and a development-ready pipeline answer different questions
The three values are shown together with their periods and definitions so each remains a distinct measure.
- 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. Pair the regional hectare total with current parcel evidence before making a site decision.
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 then checked the February 2026 monitor page, summary report and official Greater Sydney supply and demand workbooks. The 33 LGA supply rows reconcile to the Greater Sydney access totals within 0.1 hectare. We cross-classified the overlapping access totals, ranked the derived heavy-vehicle-only state by LGA, then joined the top three councils to 2024 industrial approvals by value. The Appendix E maps provide policy context only.
Geography
The map joins the official LGA workbook rows to frozen Australian Bureau of Statistics LGA 2025 codes. The boundaries are statistical approximations for regional display. Legal and cadastral location, site availability and parcel conditions require their own authoritative evidence.
Interpretation and next evidence
- The Plan's 22,971 hectares and the monitor's 20,210.2 hectares have different definitions and dates, so each remains a separate land set.
- Keep zoned, undeveloped, serviced and development-ready land as separate supply measures.
- Add electricity, digital, environmental, planning and market evidence to the two published access fields for a complete readiness assessment.
- Interpret industrial approvals as LGA building-work value above $50,000, covering refurbishments and new work.
- Use the LGA-level overlap to prioritise precincts for service-capacity, planning, ownership and parcel-feasibility analysis.
- Interpret take-up as past land-use change and the pipeline requirement as a forward planning benchmark.
- Verify parcel availability, feasibility and approval status against current site-level evidence.