Residential vote trumps all

BY KRISTEN TSIAMIS

Jonathan Yee is a business owner and an ALP candidate for the upcoming City of Sydney elections on September 10.

The ALP proposed to rescind the compulsory business vote, which  Mr Yee said it is “only the City of Sydney that allows this vote. Not Parramatta or Chatswood or any of the other hubs…I don’t personally think it’s fair, and it should be across the board. Since businesses did not have a compulsory vote in the past, it should not be allowed now,” he said.

As the General Manager of the family-owned Emperor’s Garden Chinese Restaurant in Haymarket, Mr Yee said, “…although businesses do operate within the City of Sydney, it should be the residents that vote.”

Mr Yee says that infrastructure is key to the further development of Haymarket as it grows, and the council proposal to increase the maximum height restrictions would be disastrous for Haymarket.

The council’s proposal to raise the city height limits would see the limits raised as much as 75 meters, from a current 235 metres.

To move the masses of people that commute in and out of the city daily, Mr Yee said that council needed to have a “more stringent application process for changes to building high-rises.”

This would ensure that high-rise buildings were only built where they are needed. Mr Yee says the way forward for the City is looking into “road management, pedestrian walkways and reassessing traffic management”.

Making Thomas Street a predominately pedestrian thoroughfare has also caused problems for residents who drive, as well as causing problems for local businesses that receive truck deliveries.

Mr Yee also said that before moving forward with any proposal to increase increase height limits, he would firstly consult the community and local business owners, and do a survey of community engagement and traffic movement within Haymarket.