METRO//NEWS - 25 April 2008

Metro threatens showground (The Hills Shire Times) – Baulkham Hills councillors are concerned the new metro line development will cause disruption and heavy traffic movements arount the Castle Hill Showground.

Council misled public: judge (The North Shore Times) - The Land and Environment Court has invalidated the North Sydney CBD Local Environment Plan due to irregularities.

But wait there's more on $12b rail link (smh.com.au) - The NSW government defends spending on Sydlink advertising spending.

We'll go cattle class (The Northern District Times) - Ryde residents and councillors are concerned about the standing times predicted on the new North West Metro Rail Line.

Only $17m for Tcard fiasco, says company (smh.com.au) - ERG Ltd makes $17m counter offer to the NSW government's $89m lawsuit against the company for the failed transport smart card.

Sydney aims to become among world's top ten conference destination (travelvideo.tv) - Sydney's business and infrastructure developments have the city well placed to be the next big conference destination.

Second airport plan Site won't be in western Sydney (Liverpool City Champion) - The federal government aviation review has ruled out a second airport within the Sydney basin.

Australia urged to overhaul cities (ABC News) - Danish architect Jan Gehl urges the 2020 summit to consider overhauling public spaces in Australian cities.

LIGHT///RAIL//LOOPS

Today in //SMOKESTACK// we consider the question - what's the best plan for a light rail loop in the CBD? NSW thinks it has a much better light rail option for the CBD that the City of Sydney's ill-concieved plan to put light rail on George St. But does the NSW plan look familiar?


(image courtesy of City of Sydney from Sustainable Sydney 2030)

A lot has been said about running a light rail loop through the CBD in recent years. The idea is that it would ease congestion on the existing heavy rail city circle, reduce bus congestion on the surface roads and facilitate the smooth and efficient flow of people along and around the CBD. The argument over light rail is nothing new; there have been a lot of options and suggestions around light rail, including a 2004 suggestion to extend the existing light rail from Lilyfield to Norton St through Leichhardt and another option to extend it along the existing disused heavy rail freight line to Summer Hill.

A battle has always existed between the City of Sydney and NSW Government concerning light rail in the CBD. While the City seems eager for light rail through its streets, the State stance has always been that light rail isn't viable and can't compete with a well organised bus strategy. Now it seems the NSW Government has seen the wisdom in the City's point of view.

(image courtesy of City of Sydney from Hyder Consulting report of February 2007)

In May 2006, a City of Sydney report prepared by Hyder Consulting reviewed earlier reports on the viability of north-south light rail route in the CBD. The Hyder report concluded a light rail rack along Castlereagh St to Circular Quay (via various options through Bligh, Bent, Loftus and Alfred streets) was viable and cost effective. In reports commissioned in June 2006 and February 2007 (see here and here) Hyder went on to recommend a two-way light rail line running up Sussex St and Hickson Rd, looping around George St at The Rocks and into Alfred St at Circular Quay, joining with the Castlereagh line to form a two-way loop through the city that would join with the existing light rail line at Central Station. This city loop was heralded by the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, as an "environmentally sustainable, financially viable and workable" surface loop that will "provide relief to the heavily used underground rail, reduces buses in the CBD and supports the East Darling Harbour development."

Then everthing changed. Clover Moore's plans for Sydney were irevocably changed - emboldened - by a visionary architect named Jan Gehl. Founding partner of Gehl Architects and author of the book Public Spaces, Public Life, Gehl has worked all over the world in global cities like New York to help them develop more vibrant and pedestrian-friendly cities. In December 2007 Gehl produced a report for the City of Sydney called Public Spaces, Public Life Sydney 2007 in which he outlined a new vision of Sydney. Core to the report was a recommendation to create a pedestrian spine for the city by closing off George St to traffic, running a tram line down its entire length and adding three public squares coming off it at Circular Quay, Town Hall and railway Square. Clover Moore loved it! Council recommended to consider it as part of the Sustainable Sydney 2030 project then underway and to develop a Public Space - Public Life Action and Implementation Plan (due in mid 2008.)

Throughout this period NSW opinion on the matter was divided - sometimes ruling light rail out, other times flagging it for consideration. In the leadup to the NSW elections in March 2007, the opposition even used it as an election platform announcing they would roll out a Central-to-Circular Quay light rail loop. The Government declared the plan unworkable.

Then Sydney dropped its bombshell - Sustainable Sydney 2030. The light rail loop had moved - this time it ran up Sussex/Hickson and down George St to Central Station. NSW responded within a fortnight. Transport Minister, John Watkins, lablelled the idea as "ill-concieved". Then he announced a new plan being considered by the state government. The unidentified plan describes a light rail route from Central Station to Circular Quay via Sussex St/Hickson Rd. This idea was described as "vastly superior" to the City's plan because it addresses Government concerns about shutting down lanes in major north-south routes in the CBD.

The battle continues.

It's fairly clear that NSW has the upper hand. Most of Clover Moore's plans for Sydney fall within NSW jurisdiction (or at least require NSW approval.) The light rail loop will clearly fall within the RTA's purview. In addition, as far as I can tell, the NSW plan is a duplication of the 2007 Hyder report minus the Castlereagh leg to close the loop. And therein lies the problem. It seems the City and State Government have both given up on a Hickson-Castlereagh loop - the one best solution in my opinion. The City in favour of a George Street loop and the State in favour of a north-south line via Hickson Road only. Why NSW doesn't want to service the eastern side of the CBD is unclear - especially when their plan costs a mere $153m and light rail on Castlereagh won't interfere with bus routes along George and Elizabeth streets. Having the light rail run along the western edge of the CBD means anyone needing to go anywhere along the eastern side (especially the north east including the Opera House and Botanical Gardens) will probably avoid using the service at all.

Another main issue that both plans fail to solve is commuters don't want to swap modes of transport. They want to ride from their point of boarding directly to their destination, hence the need for buses to run all the way up George Street. NSW has used this very argument against the City's light rail plans more than once in the past, but they don't seem to address it in their plan.

For the record, I'd like to submit my own plan. Simple and sweet:

• light rail loop using Sussex/Hickson, George St (The Rocks), Alfred St, Castlereagh St
• The loop would meet the existing light rail line
• The loop would be frequent and continuous
• The loop would be free
  

The last point is the most critical. A free city service would increase usage, allow more buses to terminate at Central and provide a boost to the local community and tourism. I'd use it.


Article by Adam Rosalky

To sumbit your own //SMOKESTACK// article for review and publication, email smokestack@futuredesignsydney.com.

//BARANGAROO//

In URBAN//FOCUS this week, we look at the Barangaroo development. Last week Premier Morris Iemma released a call for expressions of interest for Barangaroo stage one. So what is Barangaroo?

(image courtesy of barangaroo.com.au)

Barangaroo, known as East Darling Harbour until last year, is a 22 hectare concrete hardstand area on prime harbour location abutting the north-eastern edge of the CBD. It has been flagged for redevelopment into a new business centre and public foreshore parkland over the next decade.

Since it was redeveloped in the 1970s Sydney Ports Corporation owned the land on behalf of the State Government and operated the southern end of the wharf as a passenger terminal. Patrick Corporation leased the north end as a container terminal. On 12 May 2005 the State Government announced an international design competition and a naming competition for the site. On 9 February 2007 the new name and vision for Barangaroo was announced.

The site is named after the wife of Bennelong, an Aboriginal man who personified the British efforts to build relationships with the local Cadigal people after white settlement in the late 18^th century. Bennelong Point, where the Opera House now stands, was named after him.

The Barangaroo design embodies a natural completion of the north western edge of the CBD, which currently ends quite abruptly with the Hickson Road escarpment, cut during construction of the road in 1911. The south end of Barangaroo will house mainly tall commercial buildings – merging with the existing skyline. Flowing north, the commercial buildings will smoothly reduce in height, leaving 1.4 km of open parkland along the northern and western foreshore. The site will contain commercial, retail, residential and community floor space. It fulfils NSW State Plan goals of social inclusion, sustainability and activating the Sydney foreshore.

THE//CONCEPT///PLAN

The plan has received mixed reviews since its unveiling. The design takes into account the style of the city, with its south-north height flow. It maintains heritage components such as the 87m port control tower and the Moores Wharf safety office. It also provides for over 50% open space including a harbour boardwalk and Headland park.

In a lecture as part of the City Talks program, renowned Danish urban planner Jan Gehl said the park might become a wasteland – empty by day, dangerous by night. The claim has been strongly rejected by Premier Morris Iemma.

Development will be in two stages. A call for expressions of interest for stage one – the southern end – announced on 17 April this year.

TIME///LINE

The current step in the process is the demolition of existing above-ground structures, followed by remediation – which refers to cleaning up below-ground contamination. The timeline for the process looks like this:

October 2007 – Cargo operations cease. (Passenger operations continue.)

15 November 2007 – the Department of Planning approves the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority’s Demolition Plan (number MP07_077 ).

December 2007 – Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority awards demolition contract to Cardinal Project Services to do the demolition work, including the safe removal of asbestos roofing sheets.

20 December 2007 – Site ownership transfers from Sydney Ports Corporation to Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

May 2008 –demolition expected to be complete

2009 – Remediation and construction works expected to commence.

2020 – Barangaroo complete.

MAJOR//PLAYERS

Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority – The SHFA manages Sydney Harbour’s foreshore and they are the project managers, and site owners, for the demolition works.

Department of Planning – The DOP assesses, approves and regulates the Demolition Plan in line with NSW planning legislation.

Department of Environment and Climate Change – Assess below-ground contamination and approves the Remediation Plan. They won’t be getting involved until the demolition work is complete.

City of Sydney – The city is a stakeholder in this project. They watch and comment. Having said that, the COS seems to be very happy with the design and progress.

Welcome

Did you know the City of Sydney wants to bury the Western Distributor and demolish the Cahill Expressway?

Do you know how many new jobs the NSW State Government wants to create in your local area by 2020?

What do you think about your council's plans for the future of your neighbourhood?

Welcome to FUTURE///DESIGN//SYDNEY, a blog that brings together my interests in urban planning and the way metropolitan Sydney is evolving into the future. Here, you'll find information, discussion and opinion about the development of Sydney's urban infrastructure including topics like transport, sustainability and urban renewal. I hope to post articles every fortnight or so and I welcome comments and contributions from anyone with similar interests. Here in my first post, I'll introduce the scope, format and topics covered in FDS, introduce myself and let you know how you can participate in the blog through comments and discussion, and even contributing articles.

ABOUT///FDS

FDS will cover issues relating to urban development and planning in metropolitan Sydney - encompassing the 43 metropolitan councils in the greater Sydney area. While I will try to cover as much area as possible, I will be mainly focusing on areas of city-wide oversight and congestion such as the NSW metropolitan plan, the orbital road network, Sydlink and the City of Sydney. The three main focus topics will be urban renewal projects, transport management and urban sustainability.

Each fortnight (hopefully!) I will post a new article covering a few topics of interest. Each article will be broken into sections: METRO//NEWS will highlight the latest news and analysis across the city. URBAN//FOCUS will be an in-depth look at one specific planning project or issue. Finally, //SMOKESTACK// will be a platform to voice opinion on any FDS topic. You'll be able to voice your opinion here too.

ABOUT//ME

My name is Adam, I’m 30 years old and I am a federal public servant living and working in Sydney. I grew up in Canberra and moved to Sydney in 2001. I have lived all across the inner west and worked in the CBD, Parramatta and the inner south. Since I moved to Sydney I have been fascinated by the development of the city, from the earliest days of Governor Macquarie's street grid right through to Clover Moore's Sustainable Sydney 2030 city vision and the State Government's City of Cities metropolitan plan. I have been particularly interested in the plans to ease CBD traffic congestion, and build a viable city-wide public transport system.

HOW//TO///CONTRIBUTE

Each article posted will be open to public comments and review – please let me know what you think and what you want to talk about – and especially let me know if you disagree with me or need to correct my facts! My email is adam@futuredesignsydney.com and I'd love to hear your suggestions and advice for improving the blog and the articles.

I'm aslo eager to read your submissions for //SMOKESTACK//. If you would like to have your opinion published in //SMOKESTACK// please send your submissions to smokestack@futuredesignsydney.com.