A 41-hectare slice of Bankstown Airport would be transformed into a "business park and family leisure destination", under a $161 million proposal that could herald a wave of redevelopment at the site.
With the state government considering new transport links to the area, a company owned by billionaire property investor Bob Ell is teaming up with the airport to put forward a plan for what they are calling the "Bankstown Business Estate".
The proposal is to redevelop the parcel of non-aviation land on the south-west precinct of the airport for bulky goods retail, a factory outlet and restaurants, along with a business park. It would include more than 3000 car spaces.
Mr Ell's Leda Holdings took over the area in 2013 after the Bankstown Airport Corporation development company, known as BAC Devco, went into receivership before it could complete its own plans for the site.
"Leda views this as an exciting project that will deliver one of the largest employment opportunities for the south-western region of Sydney," said Mr Ell's son Robert, the company's managing director.
The plan's release comes two months after Bankstown and Camden airports were quietly put on the market by the Commonwealth site's main leaseholder, a consortium comprising AustralianSuper, Mirvac and Colonial First State.
About six parties are still in the running for the two sites, which have price expectations of more than $200 million.
"We're in the second round of the EOI at the moment," said Gavin Bishop of Colliers International, who added the sale had no bearing on Leda's plans.
"I think what Leda are doing is going to complement the balance of the airport anyway."
And more development could follow. A new masterplan, approved in January by Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss, earmarks up to 130 hectares of the airport's land for "non-aviation" purposes.
The NSW government, meanwhile, is leaving open the question of what it should do to the area's transport links. Transport for NSW plans to convert the existing Bankstown Line to Bankstown station to a new "metro-style" rail service linking through the city.
But it has never explained what it wants to do to rail stations further west of Bankstown on the Bankstown Line. Transport academic Garry Glazebrook has suggested extending the metro line west directly to Liverpool on a new line through Bankstown Airport. Liverpool Council is also pushing for an extension of the metro.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance on Tuesday suggested plans remain up in the air, saying the new metro line "will be an enabling line which will see further opportunities for expansion ... including potentially to Liverpool onto Badgerys Creek".
Redevelopment of the airport already appears to have won the support of opposition leader Luke Foley, who last month told parliament that it could be a major employment zone "with the right planning, investment and infrastructure".
"It is easy to imagine Bankstown as the next Macquarie Park or Norwest Business Park, full of tens of thousands of high-wage jobs and providing employment opportunities for local people in Sydney's south and west," Mr Foley said.
But the south-west corner of the airport also come to the attention of Senate Estimates, which in February raised questions about fill previously used to build up the site.
Committee chair and Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan told Infrastructure and Regional Development staff that this work had destroyed a natural flood plain and would have a "serious impact" on nearby areas.
"You have a problem, boys," Senate Heffernan said.
The department's written responses state Bankstown Council had raised concerns in the past about the airport's flood management, but the two parties had since worked together, including on a joint flood management study.
Robert Ell said: "The advice that we have been given by our consultants is that the site is fit for use for its intended purpose".
The council's general manager Matthew Stewart said it welcomed new job generating opportunities but would be making a submission to the plans.
"We would expect any development proposed for this land to be in line with the use and operations of Bankstown Airport; be supported by suitable infrastructure and transport links; and to be consistent with planning controls across our city and the Mid Georges River Flood Risk Management Plan," Mr Stewart said.
