Here's what you need to know this morning.

Fears 'mega fire' could hit coal power station and mine

There are fears the Gospers Mountain "mega-fire" could burn through a coal power station and mine in the coming days.

In a statement Greenpeace said local communities could be in grave danger as the large fire burned towards the Springvale coal mine and the abandoned Wallerawang power station.

The fire was also burning towards Blackman's flat which is close to the Mount Piper Power Station which has "large stockpiles of flammable coal".

"Obviously workers are at extreme risk as well as the community living nearby, as if any coal caught alight it would likely burn for weeks," the statement said.

Video on social media last night showed the fire creeping towards the Springvale coal mine as workers looked on.

'Bold vision' unveiled for Powerhouse Parramatta

The winning design for the new Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta has been revealed.

French firm Moreau Kusunoki and local company Genton have been chosen to design the new museum, which Minister for the Arts Don Harwin said represented the biggest investment in arts and culture since the Opera House.

"Once this museum is built there simply will not be another building like it in Australia," Mr Harwin said.

The Powerhouse Museum, which is moving to Parramatta, will be housed in this new building. ( Supplied )

The billion dollar project includes plans to demolish the nearby heritage listed former maternity hospital Willow Grove, and Labor spokesman Walt Secord said the money could be better spent elsewhere.

"This is extraordinary and it's always been a property deal to allow developers to get their hands on the Ultimo site," he said.

December heat records to fall

Temperatures will climb into the mid-to-high 40's as the heatwave across large parts of New South Wales tightens its grip from today.

The "high intensity" heatwave will reach a peak on Thursday and Saturday, with bushfire smoke also expected to be a concern on both days.

The weather bureau said a large part of the state's west would hit the mid-to-high 40's during the second half of the week, and Western Sydney would also reach into the 40's.

Duty forecaster Jake Phillips said there would also be elevated fire dangers on the hottest days on Thursday and Saturday but the wind gusts would not be as strong as they had been in recent weeks.

"So very hot conditions expected, in a lot of places we're looking at temperatures that are 10 to 15 degrees above average for this time of year," he said.

"It's also highly likely a number of places will break December temperature records this week," he said.



Muswellbrook shaken by earthquakes

A seismologist says earthquakes that have rocked Muswellbrook in the last 24 hours are the biggest to hit the region in more than 10 years.

A 3.8 magnitude quake struck at around 3.30pm yesterday afternoon, followed by another measuring 4.4 an hour later.

There was another around 6.00pm - with a magnitude three trembler at 4:15 this morning.

Residents reported shaking houses and a momentary power outage.

Seismologist Hugh Glanville from Geosciences Australia says there have been 104 earthquakes in the Muswelbrook region over the last 10 years.

Busting Sydney's 'latte line'

Sydney's sustainability will depend on breaking the city's so-called "latte line", an imaginary border that roughly starts at Sydney Airport and travels diagonally north-west towards Parramatta and beyond, researchers say.

While the western suburbs continue to appeal to those wanting to own a house with a backyard, the majority of jobs in Sydney can be found in the city's east and north.

This leaves those chasing affordable housing with longer commutes.

Emily and Ben Prentice with their daughter, Maisie. ( ABC News: Mridula Amin )

Dr Youqing Fan from Western Sydney University said to connect Western Sydney residents to their workplaces, the four major hubs across the Sydney CBD, North Sydney, Macquarie and Parramatta needed to be better linked.

"On average people in Sydney are travelling 82 minutes on their commute, 31 per cent of them more than two hours," he said.

"The first solution is connecting the south-west part of Sydney to the north-east, to connect the Macquarie Centre and Parramatta using a railway."