Surry Hills park light rail stop back on the cards with new petition

By AMBER GRIFFIN

Sydney’s Mayor Lord Clover Moore has started a petition to NSW Parliament pushing for the construction of a new light rail stop in Surry Hills, after the project has been in contention for nearly 10 years. The proposed location of the stop is in a small park off Bourke Street, opposite the Bourke Street Bakery.

Wimbo Park has had a stop in the works for some time, as when previous upgrades were going ahead in 2016, infrastructure to accommodate easy construction for a light rail stop was installed.

Early plans for the light rail route that would have cut through Wimbo Park go back to 2013, when plans for a tunnel were discussed, but never went ahead. Transport for NSW and the City of Sydney previously prepared for the stop to be built at the junction of Devonshire Street and Bourke Street, including installing conduits, saying the park was “future proofed” for the light rail.

The petition has been established to express recent community interest in the additional Surry Hills light rail stop, as in comparison to eight stops in the Sydney CBD, there is only one stop servicing the entirety of Surry Hills between Central Station and Moore Park. The community is calling for more accessibility, describing the lack of stops an “oversight in the planning”.

Sydney Mayor Lord Clover Moore is now backing the petition, saying that it’s an “opportunity to remedy an obvious gap” in public transport for Redfern, Waterloo and East Surry Hills.

The petition states that the former Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance, agreed to ensure the design of the light rail would enable a future stop to be provided at Wimbo Park.

“Thousands have signed our petition to build a second stop, which will be presented to parliament by Alex Greenwich MP” Cr Moore said.

Transport for NSW says stop is subject to demand

Transport for NSW has made assurances that conduits have been installed in Wimbo park, and the area was designed to enable quick construction of a stop.

When asked about these assurances, a Transport for NSW spokesperson said that in the initial planning, a light rail stop at Wimbo Park was not justified due to its proximity to the Surry Hills stop,  which is around 400m away.

“However, future proofing work at Wimbo Park was completed to enable a stop to be built at a later date, if sufficient demand emerged.” the spokesperson said.

Transport for NSW said they would be monitoring Opal data and customer feedback to inform their decision on the stop.

The Future of Wimbo Park

Wimbo Park is undergoing further re-design by the City of Sydney, with construction expected to start in late 2022.

“Wimbo Park was originally a small rest area. But when we negotiated the light rail development agreement with Transport for NSW, we ensured the balance of any land not required would be dedicated back to us for use as an expanded park” Cr Moore said.

“Wimbo Park has grown from 1500 square metres to 4600 square metres and the City has begun a multi- million-dollar upgrade of the space.”

To accommodate the potential light rail, the design for the park will include less paving to reduce the noise impacts of the light rail and a retained fence separating the park from the light rail.

Have your say on the future of Wimbo Park, Surry Hills, the petition is available to sign now and is open to all residents of New South Wales.