Airport bus and train links 'unsatisfactory' (Sydney Morning Herald)
SYDNEY AIRPORT has blasted the State Government for "unsatisfactory" public transport at its terminals, claiming bus and rail services were "well below international standards".
Green paper aids Iemma's power plans (Sydney Morning Herald)
THE State Government has had a big win from the Federal Government's green paper on carbon pollution.
Iemma calls for Newcastle international airport (ABC News)
New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma says Williamtown Airport, north of Newcastle, is one of many options for a possible second airport for Sydney.
Government rebuffs airport transport criticism (ABC News)
The New South Wales Government has rejected criticism by Sydney Airport's operators of the transport links to the terminals.
Better to buy than to rent (The Australian)
IT may be a world away from Sydney's harbourside mansions, but on the fringe of the city there are pockets where housing prices have fallen so far that it is starting to make more sense to buy than rent.
Planner warns of ghost town at site (Sydney Morning Herald)
GIANT tower blocks along East Darling Harbour could turn Sydney's biggest urban renewal project into a ghost town that is more a business park than a community, one of the state's top planners has warned.
Hungry Mile tipping point for Wynyard (Sydney Morning Herald)
A 30 PER CENT bigger development at the Hungry Mile could push Wynyard station to crisis point. An extra 12,500 people a day are expected to use the train station, including 6100 in the one-hour morning peak.
Morris Iemma to investigate decent public transport always (Daily Telegraph)
Premier Morris Iemma admitted the success of WYD transport also showed that special events proved decent public transport was possible.
Extra clearways and bus stops may stay (Sydney Morning Herald)
THE State Government will consider keeping the extra bus lanes, bus stops and peak-hour clearways introduced for World Youth Day to tackle the city's worsening traffic congestion.
Cheaper train tickets for off-peak travel (Sydney Morning Herald)
NSW Premier Morris Iemma has today announced a three-month trial of heavily discounted off-peak rail tickets for commuters on the Western and Carlingford lines, beginning next month.
Sydney gets Woking wake-up call (governmentnews.com.au)
Sydney needs to step up and become a leader in sustainable living to rate alongside the world’s leading ‘green’ cities, the head of London’s Climate Change Agency has told an audience in Sydney.
Flicking the switch from hot air to usable heat (Sydney Morning Herald)
In Woking, trigeneration - supplemented by fuel cells and renewable energy such as solar panels - enabled the town to produce 80 per cent of its own power by 2004 and to drop its CO2 emissions by 77 per cent in 14 years.
Wynyard station to be rebuilt (ABC News)
New South Wales Transport Minister John Watkins says Wynyard Station will be rebuilt to cope with commuters from the redevelopment of east Darling Harbour.
Free parking for motorbikes, scooters (news.com.au)
MOTORCYCLE and scooter riders will be able to park for free on streets controlled by the Sydney City Council in its proposal to encourage smaller, more environmentally-friendly modes of travel.
METRO//NEWS - 25 July 2008
NEW///BARANGAROO //UPDATE//
Yesterday I wrote about changes to the Barangaroo plan but I was a bit light on the details, mainly because all the Sydney harbour Foreshore Authority websites were down and NSW Planning didn't have any info up about the changes.
The authority has also submitted changes to the main concept plan. NSW Planning currently has them on exhibition and they are available online here (search for "Barangaroo"). The changes relate to the buildings in the Stage 1 development area. This is the southern end where the tallest buildings will be. The authority is responding to business requests to supply more contiguous commercial floorspace in the CBD. Basically this means businesses want larger floorspace areas instead of multiple small areas over multiple floors. The authority has redesigned the footprint of these main buildings to create larger contiguous spaces and more total commercial floorspace. The new design seems to produce a smaller number of tall buildings, reducing the visual impact and the shadow lines across the city and Darling Harbour.
NEW///BARANGAROO
It looks like the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, owners and developers of the new Barangaroo site on the north-west tip of the CBD, made some hefty changes yesterday to their concept plan for the major development at East Darling Harbour. I wrote about the Barangaroo development in April, see here.
Two articles appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald today. The first, by urban affairs reporter, Sunanda Creagh, Planner warns of ghost town at site reports the authority has submitted a new plan to the Department of Planning for approval. The new plan allegedly increases commercial floor space by up to 30% without increasing residential floorspace. The article quotes Patrick Fensher, Director of SGS Economics & planning and co-author of the Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan and the NSW Metropolitan Strategy, as saying the changes will turn the area into a business park rather than a new community suburb.
The second article to appear in the SMH today is by their transport reporter, Linton Besser. The article is called Hungry Mile tipping point for Wynyard. It also reveals changes to the Barangaroo site plan, but goes on to describe the overcrowding effects on the already overburdened Wynyard train station, depsite possible plans for a light rail loop along Hickson Road.
Having read these articles I started looking for more info on the topic. At the moment the Department of Planning isn't making any further information public on the alleged new plans. It also looks like the Barangaroo website plus the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority site, darlingharbour.com, eastdarlingharbour.com, sydneyforevents.com and therocks.com are all down. All these sites, including the barangaroo site are owned and operated by the SHFA. I can only assume they're being updated to reflect what must be some very big changes.
METRO//NEWS - 15 July 2008
The Hills transport nightmare continues (Hills News)
FRUSTRATED commuters from Sydney's north-west want more buses and better punctuality.
Pitt Town development gets green light (NSW Department of Planning)
The NSW Government has approved final plans for the growth of Pitt Town in the Hawkesbury which will help deliver new homes and community infrastructure for the area.
Car pools: a chance to change driving habits (ABC News)
It's time that government at all levels started looking at one practical measure that could reduce fuel costs for motorists, reduce the number of cars on the road and reduce the greenhouse gas emitted: car pooling.
3000 to 14,000 people: race on to grow Sydney Olympic Park (Sydney Morning Herald)
The number of people living at Sydney Olympic Park area will go from 3000 to 14,000 by 2030, under a redevelopment plan announced by the State Government this morning.
Redfern to rival Pyrmont as a hub for media (Sydney Morning Herald)
REDFERN'S commercial property sector is being expanded with the $200 million development 8 Central Avenue, being undertaken by Rebel Property Group and the Seven Network.
Airport offices take wing (Sydney Morning Herald)
THE commercial property hub of Sydney's international airport is to be given a boost with the construction of a $39 million, 9000 square metre office building.
Smart meters cut power use (Sydney Morning Herald)
AN AGGRESSIVE introduction of smart meters in homes could cut electricity use by as much as 25 per cent during peak demand periods, removing the need to build new power stations for several decades.
AFL stadium in Sydney's rugby league zone sparks outrage (News.com.au)
THE AFL will today make a bold incursion into rugby league's heartland with the unveiling of the home ground for its second team in western Sydney.
Welcome to paradise for pedestrians (Sydney Morning Herald)
Under traffic measures for the event, cars were banned from George Street from 10am yesterday until midnight. And it will be the same for the rest of the week. The change offers Sydneysiders their first glimpse of what the city could be like if the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, gets her wish: to banish private cars from George Street forever.
GREEN///TRANSFORMERS
This week in URBAN//FOCUS we look at the City of Sydney's plans to install small multi-purpose 'Green Transformers' around the City in an effort to move towards low carbon energy and sustainable water supplies. So what exactly does a Green Transformer do? Want to hear more? Come along to the City of Sydney's upcoming free talk: Green Transformers - Revolutionising energy generation for a Sustainable Sydney.
In March this year, City of Sydney released a 25-year plan for Sydney called Sustainable Sydney 2030. The plan intends to make Sydney 'green, global and connected' by 2030. As the plan title suggests, sustainability is one of the key themes, with the City committing to the targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol and aiming to become the first carbon-neutral local government in Australia. To achieve this, they have commited to some fairly rigorous targets.
- 100% offset of local government emissions by 2008;
- a 70% reduction in 1990 greenhouse emission levels across the entire Local Government Area (LGA) by 2050;
- 25% of all energy used in the LGA from renewable sources by 2020;
- zero water consumption increase across the LGA by 2015 based on 2006 levels;
- resource recovery of 66% of LGA residential waste by 2014.
GAS//POWERED
The City, is currently powered from the State power grid, which is sourced from 100% coal burning power plants. By 2030, planned Green Transformer will produce around 330MW of electricity from natural gas. Natural gas is much cleaner than coal and will reduce City emissions by around 20%. By 2030 the City expects to have 20 Green Transformers up and running. Combined with other planned power reduction measures, the Green Transformers are expected to supply around 70% of the City's electricity demand, reducing its carbon footprint and increasing power security.
//COGENERATION//
Normal gas powered electricity generation converts around 48% of the available fuel into electricity. The remaining 52% is lost through waste heat. Green Transformers capture the waste heat, resulting in capture of 84% of the available fuel and reducing wastage to 16%. The waste heat can be used for a number of purposes including heating and chilling water for local use. The benefits here are obvious, all that extra hot and cold water being supplied to local business at zero power cost!
WASTE///TO//ENERGY
Green Transformers run on natural gas, which is basically naturally occurring methane. By introducing methane capture technology in their waste disposal process, the City of Sydney plans to generate 'green gas' methane to supply directly back to the Green Transformers. This will reduce natural gas usage and the City's waste footprint. In cooperation with the NSW Government, the City of Sydney plans to recycle 50% of the non-recycled residential and non-residential waste into a 5MW waste-to-energy plant by 2020.
WATER//RECYCLING
Green Transformers will be able to recycle grey water from local businesses using some cogeneration heat. By developing a network of water recycling pipes in conjunction with the cogenerated hot and cold water pipes, the City of Sydney could provide a low-emission water recycling system that will also reduce the City's sewage output. The system would be able to harvest water from parks and 'green roofs' to provide recycled water to businesses and increase the City's water security.
CITY//TALK
The City of Sydney will be showcasing these ideas in one of their 'City Talk' lecture series. The lecture, called 'Green Transformers - Revolutionising energy generation for a Sustainable Sydney' will be held at the Theatre Royal on July 22 at 6.30pm. Tickets are essential and available free from Ticketek here. Speakers include Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, Allan Jones, CEO of London Climate Change Agency and Bruce Tapier from Kinesis, the company that helped the City develop its Green transformer plan.
METRO//NEWS - 10 July 2008
Premier's Plan (Western Week-ender)
Accompanied by the Minister for Western Sydney, Barbara Perry, Minister for Transport, John Watkins, Minister for Roads, Eric Roozendaal, Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, and the Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, Mr Iemma attended a meeting at Penrith City Council on Monday to discuss the State Government’s State Plan.
Tcard: here we go again (Sydney Morning Herald)
THE dumped Tcard has been revived in a secret cabinet decision that could make public transport more expensive for many long-distance commuters but, if successful, should lead to seamless travel on train, bus and ferry.
London's sustainable energy expert to speak at City Talk (City of Sydney)
Allan Jones MBE, the man who took Woking, England off the electricity grid and introduced solar and tri-generation power is coming to Sydney to talk at a free City of Sydney City Talk on Tuesday 22 July.rain, bus and ferry.
City rewarding sustainable city drivers (City of Sydney)
Residents and businesses who own low-emission cars such as hybrids will be rewarded with discounted parking permits from July 1.
New Tcard to bypass ticketing system (Sydney Morning Herald)
THE second attempt at a Tcard will bypass the Government's transport agencies with a parallel ticketing system, to avoid a repeat of past problems.
Beauticians sought for city's ugliest building (Sydney Morning Herald)
THE University of Sydney has its sandstone, Macquarie University its magnificent grounds and the University of NSW its award-winning Scientia Building. But the University of Technology, Sydney, has a concrete monolith that marks its downtown location with excruciating clarity.
Fuel tax should fund buses (Sydney Morning Herald)
A FEDERAL tax regime to underpin the purchase of hundreds of buses in Sydney has been proposed to the federal Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, by the bus industry.
A tunnel and a light rail are the keys (Manly Daily)
AN underground tunnel with a light rail line terminating at Manly shared with a privately-owned toll road terminating at Balgowlah was one of the key ideas put forward at a transport forum held to solve the northern beaches' traffic woes yesterday.
Public transport needs urgent attention (Sydney Morning Herald)
Australian urban railways are running at capacity and the federal government needs to pour at least $10 billion into meeting public transport demand, an expert panel warns.
Westmead's missing link (Parramatta Advertiser)
PLANS are under way for a major housing/commercial development to link the Westmead hospital precinct and railway station.
Govt rules out airport curfew changes (ABC News)
Anthony Albanese says the Federal Government will not heed Qantas and Singapore Airlines' calls to relax the Sydney Airport curfew as long as he is federal Transport Minister.
Transport focus for Iron Cove overhaul (ABC News)
A transport industry group is calling for Sydney's Iron Cove Bridge expansion to be more focussed on public transport.
CBD///AND//INNER///WEST//STRATEGIES///RELEASED
The Sydney Metropolitan Strategy is the NSW Government's plan for managing the 640,000 new homes and 500,000 new jobs needed to accommodate Sydney's projected growth to 2031. Since its release, ten subregional strategies, each one focusing on a geographical area in more detail, have been drafted. This week in URBAN//FOCUS we look at the recently released final two subregional strategies - Inner West and Sydney City.
The Metropolitan Strategy, and each of the subregional plans, are broken down into seven subject areas or strategies. Namely, Economy and Employment, Centres and Corridors, Housing, Transport, Environment and Resources, Parks and Public Places, Implementation and Governance. Overall, the strategy aims to put jobs near people by focusing employment growth in major centres, town centres, specialised centres and villages. These core commercial and employment centres are then connected by transport corridors that also host employment lands and businesses. This 'centres and corridors' approach will hopefully put jobs 'closer to home', as spelled out in the NSW State Plan, ease congestion, reduce commuting times and increase quality of life.
In addition, the strategies focus on a few other key issues like freight movement capacity, getting the freight from road to rail, affordable housing, sustainable water and power, suburb renewal and aligning state and local planning. Both the Inner West and Sydney City subregional strategies contain projects in all these areas.
The Inner West strategy covers Ashfield, Burwood, Canada Bay, Leichhardt and Strathfield LGAs. Most of the inner west jobs growth will be in Canada Bay and Burwood, mainly due to the focus on Burwood as the subregion's only major centre and the specialised business area of Rhodes/Olympic Park. The least jobs growth will be in denser areas like Ashfield and Leichhardt. Similarly, housing growth will focus on sparser areas - Canada Bay, Strathfield and Burwood while Ashfield and Leichhardt have more modest growth targets.
With the eventual closure of commercial port activity at White Bay and Glebe island, the area has been assigned to a new Bays Precinct Task Force to consult with community and business groups and prepare a plan for the area. One popular suggestion is relocating Sydney Fish Markets to Glebe Island.
The key to improving urban life in the inner west is improving transport. Most traffic in the subregion is through-traffic between the CBD and the west and north-west regions. Victoria Road, Parramatta Road and heavy rail through the inner west is already at or nearing capacity. The subregional strategy outlines plans to improve Victoria Road in Gladesville and Rozelle. Stage one is the duplication of the Iron Cove Bridge, then tidal lanes (lanes that change direction during peak hours) bus lanes and bus overtaking bays will be built along the rest of the road all the way down to the City West Link. The $12bn North West Metro will run through Gladesville and Rozelle from the north-west by 2017 (if you believe the current planning schedule) easing road demand along the route.
Parramatta Road will also undergo some less dramatic improvements such as extended turning lanes and new sets of traffic lights. More significantly, the Parramatta Road Task Force will roll out a plan to develop Parramatta Road into an enterprise corridor, attracting small businesses and start-ups along each side. The subregional strategy also re-emphasises the NSW Government's commitment to the M4 East extesnion and a possible dedicated truck road tunnel all the way to Port Botany to ease car and truck congestion in the region.
With modest growth and large transport improvements, this subregional plan should help to insulate the Inner West from external congestion pressures and maintain the high quality of living in the region.
The Sydney City subregional strategy was surely the Planning Departmant's problem child. Sydney City is at the heart of the metropolitan region's transport problems as well as being the driver of the NSW economy and the tourism and business showroom of the nation. On top of all that, the City of Sydney has (rightly, in my opinion) developed their own highly ambitious vision for the region and placed the burden squarely on Frank Sartor's shoulders to help them fulfill it. In this case, however, there is little of the antagonism we so often see between local and state planning departments. It seems the future of Sydney City is too important to play politics. There has been a strong show of support and cooperation between NSW Planning and the City of Sydney. While some issues are contested (light rail and the future of George St being one) both governments have referenced each others' strategies in their own planning documents and there are some clear themes indicating a high degree of consultation.
The Sydney City subregional strategy plans to add 55,000 homes and 58,000 jobs to the Sydney LGA by 2031. While these targets seem ambitious, they actually call for a growth rate of just over half the average rate of the last ten years. The plan calls for the City of Sydney to consider options for more affordable housing (in addition to the new housing development recently announced for Ultimo) and to review its master plan for the Green Square development to accommodate these growth figures. Significant housing growth is planned for a number of major developments, including the Carlton-United Brewery site (now Frasers Broadway) and Barangaroo. Commercial development outside the CBD core will focus on the region's only other planned major centre - Green Square.
The CBD has been divided into five precincts (see the above image) called Sydney CBD, City East, Pyrmont-Ultimo, Sydney Education and Health (around Sydney University) and Redfern Centre. There are also five town centres on the CBD fringe: Newtown, Broadway, Haymarket, Oxford Street and Kings Cross. These precincts and town centres each has a general description and usage plan. Here, I think, City of Sydney in their Sustainable Sydney 2030 has done a much better job characterising the breakdown of the CBD and the role the precincts play in the dynamics of the city. Of course NSW Planning has a much broader vision, but I think here especially more planning alignment would have produced more momentum.
With respect to Sydney City's biggest hurdle - transport - there is surprisingly little new material in the subregional strategy. It basically reiterated its commitment to ongoing projects such as the North West Metro and the CBD bus strategy spelled out in the 2006 Urban Transport Statement.
Overall, the Inner West strategy seems to show a bit more insight than the Sydney City strategy. Reduced growth numbers and a focus on transport infrastructure in the Inner West is a sound strategy - it will improve broader city quality as much as improve the Inner West. The Sydney City strategy was less inspiring; perhaps due to the intense focus this region receives and the aspirational vision of the City of Sydney's own plans. Throughout the process of developing all ten subregional strategies NSW Planning has remained true to its vision of growth management and, while this is critical for Sydney's future, I think it forces the planners to be uncreative and dry in their approach. Let me end with an example. NSW plans to concentrate buses on George and Elizabeth Streets; City of Sydney plans to remove the Western Distributor and build an exhibition centre on the roof of Central Station. I guess that's why they call it the Department of Planning, not the Department of Vision.
TOP//GEAR///DOES//LONDON
I just finished wathcing this week's Top Gear in which Richard, Jeremy, James and the Stig raced from west to east London via car, bike, public transport and boat.
For the record, the bike won, followed by boat, then public transport, with the car coming a dead last. Granted it was Monday morning rush hour, but a very interesting experiment nonetheless!
I wonder how the same race through Sydney, say Burwood to Bondi, would come out.
METRO//NEWS - 2 July 2008
Thousands of homes to be built in Sydney to ease housing crisis (Livenews.com.au)
More than a thousand new homes will be built in Sydney's western suburbs to ease the housing affordability crisis.
Open bus lanes to trucks: transport academic (Australasian Bus News)
Professor David Hensher, who heads up Sydney University’s Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, says opening bus lanes to trucks will have an immediate impact on congestion levels.
Spit bridge solution: 'Work closer to home' (ABC News)
The executive director of Cities and Centres at the New South Wales Planning Department, Chris Johnson, says traffic delays could be avoided if people worked in bigger business districts away from Sydney, in places like Parramatta, Gosford and Wollongong.
Iemma turning Sydney into joke (Sydney Morning Herald)
COMMUTERS have long given up on the NSW Government over its transport record. Now an international transport leader says the Government's botched handling of the Tcard has left the state with a "very bad reputation".
More houses needed in Sydney: industry (The Age)
Industry groups have welcomed a NSW government plan to build 1,000 new homes but say more must be done to ease Sydney's "rental crisis" and keep pace with the rising population.
Laugh? Only if you don't live in Sydney (Sydney Morning Herald)
SYDNEY'S transport is becoming the laughing stock of the world, the Opposition said yesterday, as thousands of commuters were again forced to endure long delays after a signal fault on the North Shore Line.
Next stop: train changers (Sydney Morning Herald)
AS PETROL prices skyrocket above $1.60 a litre, the next real estate hot-spots in Sydney's volatile residential housing market will be within a kilometre of train stations, say property experts.
Revealed: new super-orbital for city's west (Sydney Morning Herald)
AN OUTER-western Sydney orbital motorway that would stretch some 70 kilometres, from near Casula in the south-west to Penrith and then north to Rouse Hill, is on the agenda for the State Government.
Savings for public transport users (Sydney Morning Herald)
THE State Government is prepared to offer big discounts to users of public transport, along the lines of those flagged by Queensland for users of its new integrated ticketing system.
Over the Hills in overcrowded buses (Sydney Morning Herald)
Since 2001 the population in the north-west has ballooned, thanks to a series of land releases that offer Sydney perhaps its final glimpse of the big backyard that was once the suburban staple.
Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision receives widespread endorsement (City of Sydney)
Business groups, government and community organisations have given the City of Sydney's Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision a glowing endorsement following a six-week exhibition of the plan for Sydney's future.
No new Sydney airport needed: monopoly (The Australian)
SYDNEY Airport officials have made a bid to preserve the monopoly status of Australia's major aviation gateway, arguing there is no more need for a second airport now than there was when the idea was first mooted in 1946.
Sydney commuters get new weekly bus tickets (Daily Telegraph)
From October 1, commuters on private bus companies in the city's west will save 20 per cent on their weekly tickets.
Planners miss the connections (Sydney Morning Herald)
SYDNEY'S transport authorities are failing to keep up with the changing commuting habits and longer hours of many of the city's workers, with its bus and train systems still finishing their official evening peaks at 6.30pm.
Hillsong drops $78m development (News.com.au)
A DEVELOPMENT application to build a $78 million office block and 2700 seat church in the CBD has been withdrawn by the Hillsong Church, the City of Sydney says.
Homes plan fails to look at transport, say critics (Sydney Morning Herald)
PLANS to squeeze almost 100,000 new homes into the heart of Sydney and the inner west over the next 30 years will put further pressure on the city's already crumbling transport infrastructure, critics of the State Government's latest planning announcement say.
Transport 'left out' of city living strategies (ABC News)
Two new planning strategies proposing a significant increase in city dwellings have been criticised for not addressing Sydney's transport issues.
Final metropolitan subregional strategies released (City of Sydney)
The draft subregional plans for the Inner West and Sydney City have been released for public comment. The strategies describe how NSW Planning will squeeze extra housing and jobs into these key regions.
