Leichhardt Council pushes for stronger voice on Bays Precinct
Image: The Bays Precinct. Photo: Glebe Society
Leichhardt Mayor Rochelle Porteous has promised to push for the full representation of the council and community at the Bays Precinct International Summit which is to be held in Sydney on the 19th and 20th of November.
The Bays Precinct development will be the largest public work undertaken in Sydney since the 2000 Olympic Games.
The development will be designed and enacted by NSW Government agency UrbanGrowth, with the project itself titled Urban Renewal.
An international summit to discuss plans for the development was announced by UrbanGrowth in July of this year.
The findings were initially supposed to be relayed at a community stakeholder event in February 2015, but Cr Porteous insists community stakeholders be present at the actual conference.
The strong words from the Mayor follow a period of uncertainty about who would actually be asked to attend the summit and whether or not the international experts were placed to comment on local needs.
Cr Porteous told City Hub that she has been in contact with UrbanGrowth since taking up the Mayorship last month.
“What I have said, and I’ve said it very clearly, is that I want all the Leichhardt councillors to be invited to the summit,” Cr Porteous said.
“I also want the precinct chairs and secretaries invited,” she said.
“If they’re interested in having the community properly represented, they can start by inviting these people to the summit.”
UrbanGrowth confirmed with City Hub that invitations had been extended to Leichhardt Council but did not specify whether they were in full accordance with the Mayors’ request.
They were forthcoming in the differences of opinions they are having with local government.
“I think the councils are still testing the waters. The City of Sydney see this as an opportunity, but I think Leichhardt council are a bit nervous,” said Paul Hourigan, the Project Leader of Urban Renewal.
“I understand that we have to earn their trust, and that takes a long time. People need to understand that we are only facilitating an outcome at this stage, we don’t have one predetermined.”
The Mayor is not the only community figure to express concern about the guest list of the conference.
The spokesperson of the Rozelle residents action group, Mark Wallis, believes the conference can be useful, but he thinks this can only be achieved with a local voice present.
“Whilst international experts are a good way to begin a project, we also need to factor in local experts who understand the climate and character of Sydney Harbour,” Mr Wallis said.
“However consultation is too often just a statutory requirement – the government is not required to pay any attention to community concerns. If the government decides they’re going to do it, then they have the power to do it,” he said.
Greens MP Jamie Parker criticised the state government for leaving “planning and design in the hands of undemocratic agencies that will exist to extract profit from public land,” he said.
UrbanGrowth insists this is not the case.
“Part of the process is speaking to local councils, tenants, landowners, adjoining owners, community groups, and the likes. We will continue to do that from now until the end of the year.”
