UWS partnership with Penrith City Council to bring benefits for region

Mayor Councillor Ross Fowler and Vice-Chancellor Professor Barney Glover

Penrith City Council(opens in a new window) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Western Sydney to formalise its partnership with the University.

It extends the working relationship between the Council and UWS in pursuing common aims and objectives in the interest of all those working and residing in the Penrith region.

Mayor Ross Fowler OAM said the Council's relationship with UWS will continue to bring many benefits to the city and region.

"This memorandum will focus on three key areas – Economy, People and Place," says Cr Fowler.

"Council and UWS will be working together to attract businesses, investment and jobs to Penrith. Together we will advance mutually beneficial training and learning initiatives and we will find ways to open the campus to the region's communities through commercial ventures and shared cultural activities.

"Universities are places of invention, discovery and the contesting of different perspectives. A city of the future should have these same attributes. Penrith can only benefit from a more significant and open engagement with UWS.

"UWS is vital to the future of our city. The way we work together and integrate our activities will shape that future. That's what this MOU is about," says Cr Fowler.

UWS Vice-Chancellor, Professor Barney Glover, says the University is pleased to be building on its already strong relationship with Penrith City Council.

"Like all good friendships, this partnership draws on a long and fruitful spirit of collaboration between the Council and the University that goes back many years," says Professor Glover.

"There are many ways in which we are already partnering with the Council, including the $30 million Werrington Park Corporate Centre, which is set to generate hundreds - and, in time, thousands – more knowledge-economy jobs for the people of Penrith in the professional and technical services sectors.

"UWS is proud to be a university that is deeply embedded in its local community. We look forward to this partnership agreement encouraging even greater collaboration to drive the economic, social and cultural development of the City of Penrith," says Professor Glover.

Ends
10 September 2014
Media contact: Amanda Whibley, Manager Media and Public Relations