The Baird Liberal Government has released its final UrbanGrowth plan for The Parramatta Rd corridor, including Taverners Hill. The density of the precinct will increase more than 400%, but there is no new infrastructure to support these new residents.

At 4am this morning the NSW Liberal Government snuck through legislation making it easier to sell our parks and public assets to developers. This underhanded behavior represents a new low for a Government hell bent on privatisation at all costs. 

The Moore Park ‘Master Plan’ has been released, mapping out the future uses and management of the parklands.

Moore Park is part of Centennial Parklands, the green lungs of our inner city. With 60,000 new residents forecast to be living in the suburbs immediately adjacent to Moore Park over the next 20 years, demand on greenspace and recreational space will only increase.

It’s urgent that we put in place protections and sustainable management practices on our existing parklands.

The NSW Liberal Government must end the destruction of trees in our inner-city areas. The Greens will always stand up for urban sanctuaries and green spaces. 

Mirvac has lodged a Development Application with the Department of Planning and Environment to redevelop Australian Technology Park, primarily for commercial space to be used by the Commonwealth Bank.

Public submissions to the development plan closed on 29 February 2016. 

You can read the submission made by Jenny Leong MP here.

Below are some of the key concerns about this development, which were provided as a guide for public submissions. 

Heritage significance

• Australian Technology Park is a site of national and international significance.  According to the NSW Government, the “Eveleigh workshops are the best collection of Victorian period railway workshops in Australia and are considered to have world heritage significance… They represent the pinnacle of manufacturing achievement in NSW and the equipment was once (and remains) the best collection of heavy machinery from the period. The buildings are fine examples of workshop architecture and are an important part of the historic fabric of the inner city.” [Source: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4801102]

• The heritage significance of ATP extends well beyond its buildings and artefacts, to the sites immense social and cultural heritage which is also of national and international significance.

• The EIS claims that “no Aboriginal sites are recorded in or near the site, and no Aboriginal places have been declared …. The works are unlikely to have any impact on Aboriginal objects of sites.”  This is an offensive statement that willingly turns a blind eye to the continuous occupation of the site by Aboriginal people over thousands of years, and the deliberate genocide and displacement of Aboriginal people. 

• The EIS also ignores the significant social history of Aboriginal people who were employed in the workshops and involved in trade union activities on site.

• The EIS is light on detail and provides only a broad overview of the project.  The architectural drawings are too schematic to determine whether this building will do justice to the wealth of cultural and architectural history of the site, or whether it will just another mediocre office park.

• The sale of the site to Mirvac means that there is an increasingly fragmented management of the site – which makes it imperative that there is an independent heritage oversight body with the responsibility of protecting the whole area, including the ATP, Eveleigh, the Chief Mechanical Engineers Office, and related sites of significance. 

• An independent heritage body would be responsible for interpretation of heritage displays, house all existing archival materials under one roof, and provide a mechanism for the various owners of the adjoining sites to manage the heritage in a consistent and ongoing way. 

• The existing Conservation Management Plan must also be adhered to, and not watered down.  Funding must be allocated to ensure its implementation.

• An in situ archive of the history, including the oral and artefacts should also facilitate access for the public and historians. The still functioning blacksmiths shop should remain, and could form part of a heritage trades centre.

Loss of innovation and technological focus

• Using the site for Commonwealth Bank headquarters fundamentally alters it's original purpose as a centre for technology and innovation.

• Current tenants are required to demonstrate that they have a focus on innovation and new technologies.  It is unclear as to whether these tenants will be allowed to stay, or whether space will be let on a purely commercial basis.  If start up tech companies are evicted from the site, there will be significant brain drain from the inner city, and potentially Australia.

Transport

• Traffic congestion on local roads and parking pressure is already too great in this area. In one of the most congested areas of the inner city – which also faces huge risks from proposed plans for WestConnex – we need integrated, transport planning and solutions that prioritise public and active transport. We need to ensure that this massive increase in activity doesn’t push our local roads and local streets beyond breaking point.

• The EIS states that approximately $19.9 million will be spent on “Road, Public Transport and Access” in lieu of making S.94 developer contributions.  This money should be spent on upgrading Redfern Station to cope with the additional 10,000 workers who will be working at the site, not on building car parking that will add traffic and congestion to local roads.

Impact on local residents

• Residents living near the site are rightly concerned about impact of increased traffic and parking on local roads, overshadowing by tall towers and lack of public access to the site.

• Inadequate consultation with local residents, local community groups and key stakeholders in the local area means that many of the impacts and concerns have not been taking into consideration in the preparation of this EIS.

Public access and facilities

• The ‘Community Building’ referred to in section 3.6.3 comprises of a childcare centre, gym, retail tenancy and commercial office.  These uses do not facilitate public access, and should not be considered as such.

• Expensive retail outlets, for-profit childcare centres, cafes and supermarkets are commercial spaces, and exclude anyone who is not there to spend money.

• The redevelopment of the site provides the perfect opportunity for construction of a bridge over the railway line.  This would provide a much needed pedestrian and cycling link between Darlington and Alexandria.  

• It is imperative that the crossing of the rail line is for bicycles and pedestrians only, not cars. Without these bridges being included in this construction, there is little hope of them ever being built given the fragmentation of the site due to privatisation.

Affordable housing contributions

• The EIS states 2% of the total cost of the development will be spent on delivering 17 affordable housing units in the Redfern-Waterloo area as per the Redfern Waterloo Affordable Housing Contributions plan. This is unacceptably low.

• A serious commitment to affordable housing targets in areas of urban growth and urban renewal, in the order of 30% affordable housing targets for new dwellings should be mandated in order to address the housing affordability crisis in our city.

Greens MP for Newtown Jenny Leong arranged for the Minister for Heritage to attend a tour of Austalian Heritage Park (ATP) in January 2016, with a number of historians and community representatives. With the sale of ATP to Mirvac, the management of the wealth of cultural, innovation and transport heritage at Australian Technology Park and surrounds is more urgent than ever.

Welcoming news that Sydney University has added its weight behind the campaign for light rail along Parramatta Road, the two local state members said the Liberal State Government needed to meet community expectations and jump into the 21^st century with its transport planning.

 Greens MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong and Greens MP for Balmain, Jamie Parker cosigned this submission to Urban Growth stating their objections to the proposed overdevelopment of Taverners Hill, Leichhardt and Camperdown precincts.

As the local members of electorates which will be greatly impacted by these plans, Jenny and Jamie will  work with local communities and in the NSW Parliament against developments such as these which override and trample on existing Local Environment Plans and the Sydney Metropolitan Plan.

This is an artists impression of the Camperdown precinct (from the New Parramatta Road Urban Transformation Strategy)

What a strong response to our community meeting last weekend about the NSW Government plans to sell off public land to developers around Redfern and Eveleigh. Our community is united in calling for targets for affordable housing, open space, recreational facilities, schools, healthcare and active transport before there is any sell off of public land to developers. 

We have a vision for a city that is liveable, sustainable and diverse. This means investing in affordable housing, green space, community facilities, public transport and recreational facilities. It means embracing innovative design and sustainable technologies.  It means engaging in meaningful consultation with communities.

By fast tracking development and scrapping good planning guidelines, developers will win over the needs of the community. The government's Urban Growth strategy is a threat to that vision. UrbanGrowth NSW has no targets for affordable housing, sustainability or open space. There are no guarantees that these new and expanded neighbourhoods will have the critical infrastructure they need such as schools, sporting fields, medical facilities or public transport.