Symonston business park: 80,000 sqm industrial DA still undecided

The application sought 80,000 sqm of industrial leasable floor area across seven superblocks, with a long list of added uses on the Crown lease, a stormwater pond, a substation and a road reserve. The July 2025 report said the application described the project as a light industrial and commercial park.

The numbers

• 288 trees would be removed, 168 of them protected and 56 native, with 3,213 new plantings proposed.
• The traffic assessment cited about 200 vehicles an hour in each peak and 2,264 vehicle movements a day, as reported in July 2025.
• By November 2025 an amendment replaced the seven superblocks with 44 smaller lease blocks, realigned the ring road, cut the list of lease uses and withdrew signage, Region Canberra reported. It said the original application also included a data centre.

Why it matters

Canberra’s industrial market is short of new land, and this is one of the larger private proposals. The Eastern Broadacre assessment that would open up Territory-led supply has slipped to a public exhibition expected in early 2027, as we report in our Eastern Broadacre status story.

The site sits beside natural grassland, a critically endangered ecosystem. Region Canberra reported in November 2025 that the ACT Heritage Council did not support the proposal, and that Canberra Airport and Icon Water were unsupportive. It said the Conservator of Flora and Fauna, Transport Canberra and City Services, the National Capital Authority and the planning authority all sought more information.

Conservation Council ACT executive director Simon Copland said: “The fundamental concern here is the location for such a project.” The council wants the application rejected and suggested the site could be regenerated as grassland habitat. The developer’s application, as quoted in July 2025, said loss of native habitat and biodiversity is avoided or minimised.

What’s next

Region Canberra said in November 2025 that the application remained under assessment. We have not found a determination, an appeal or a withdrawal in the sources we could check. The decision will come from the ACT planning authority, and any dispute could go to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.