The Aerotropolis Draft Integrated Stormwater Schemes outline how stormwater will be managed to support sustainable development and environmental health. If you own or develop land in the area, these schemes may affect your property.

There may be impacts to

• Use of private land – some private properties may need to accommodate stormwater infrastructure, such as natural drunk drainage channels or wetlands. This could impact future land use – we’ll reduce this as much as possible.
• Development requirements – Sydney Water will meet the Aerotropolis’ stormwater requirements on behalf of developers. On-lot stormwater requirements will be significantly reduced, allowing greater use of developable land.
• Opportunities for stormwater reuse – access to stormwater harvesting infrastructure may provide cost-effective and sustainable water solutions for businesses and communities.

Check out the about stormwater infrastructure page for more information about the types of infrastructure that are needed.

The Western Parkland City State Environmental Planning Policy 2021 (SEPP) identifies the land required for regional stormwater infrastructure. Sydney Water will acquire parts of this land, if and when needed, in stages as development progresses.

All land acquisition will follow the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991, ensuring a fair and transparent process for landowners.

We’re not yet in a position to speak with individual landowners about the timing of land acquisition. This will only happen once plans are finalised and funding is approved, in alignment with the Stormwater Scheme Principles.

Once the schemes for Wianamatta Badgerys and Cosgroves are finalised, the next step is to develop a Development Servicing Plan (DSP).

The DSP will detail the capital and operational and costs of the schemes and set the Stormwater Infrastructure Contributions amount. Private and local stormwater infrastructure will not be covered by this DSP.

Once the schemes are finalised, the delivery and ongoing management of stormwater assets for the Aerotropolis will be a shared responsibility. You can learn more about this on the stormwater infrastructure page.

Key roles are outlined in the table below:

Infrastructure type	Delivered by	Managed by
Private: on-lot measures such as pervious areas, gross pollutant traps, on-site detention and on-lot drainage.	Landowner/ Developer	Landowner/ Developer
Local: street trees, street drainage and local drainage mains.	Developer or council	Council
Regional: trunk drainage channels and wetlands, stormwater harvesting, treatment and distribution	Sydney Water or developer	Sydney Water

Where Sydney Water’s regional infrastructure is delivered by a developer, it must be delivered in accordance with our requirements and dedicated to Sydney Water once completed.

Sydney Water has a Developer Works Policy that explains this clearly.

Regional stormwater infrastructure has been identified as part of the long-term strategy for the Aerotropolis and will be delivered gradually, to keep pace with development.

We expect all infrastructure will be delivered by 2056 in a staged approach.

On completion, we’ll establish and deliver a maintenance program for our stormwater infrastructure, as we would for any Sydney Water managed system.

Each part of the system will have different maintenance needs, following industry standards. Regular inspections will ensure everything functions properly, and major work, such as restoring wetlands, may be needed in the longer term.