SYDNEY: News Limited is set for an expansion of its Cumberland Newspaper Group, to be driven by a $217 million upgrade of the publisher’s Chullora printing plant in western Sydney.
The majority of Cumberland’s 18 community newspapers will be printed at a new $70 million full-colour press at Chullora, due for completion in four years. The Cumberland wing at Chullora will replace the 32-year-old press at Cumberland Newspaper Group’s Parramatta plant.
"The new Cumberland press in a dedicated wing at Chullora will help ensure that we can keep developing and growing the Cumberland business," News Limited CEO John Hartigan said. "The new press will give us the technology and flexibility to further develop the mastheads and give readers and advertisers the full colour they want,"
The Parramatta press will close on 1 October. Printing of The Manly Daily, The Canterbury Bankstown Express, The Lake Macquarie News and the Central Coast Express currently printed there will be handled by Rural Press until the Chullora expansion is completed.
The project is part of a planned $500 million investment by News Limited in plants and buildings over the next four years. Work has already started on the new $60 million headquarters for Advertiser Newspapers in Adelaide while a $32 million upgrade of the printing press at Queensland Newspapers intends to double colour capacity.
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