Glebe Society activity relating to the Bays and Foreshores over the last 12 months has again been inextricably linked with wider developments as well as local activities.

  • On a positive note, this year has seen considerable progress on the long awaited extension of the foreshore walk around Blackwattle Bay to Bridge Rd.
  • On a more mixed note, we are seeing a major transformation of Rozelle Bay. The combined on and off shore facilities for super yachts and power boats are being built and their impact on the Bay is becoming visible. The approvals for these developments were won by their proponents in past years and the best we can say is that we helped impose some constraints on the initial proposals.
  • The first of the dry boat storage buildings is well under way and will be completed soon. It will hold 300 power boats and is a bald and uninspiring addition to the foreshore. There will eventually be a second building to accommodate another 400 boats.
  • The Glebe Society and local residents managed to get some changes to the proposals for the extensive land based developments associated with the Super Yacht Marina. The proposals went well beyond the nominal description of a maritime activity and were akin to a commercial licensed club with extensive entertainment facilities.
  • In November 2013 we tried again to constrain some aspects of this development with a last minute, detailed submission (plea) to the Planning Assessment Committee (PAC). To no effect. This development is proceeding – albeit slowly – and will have considerable negative noise impact on the nearby residents and park users. The floating marina will have capacity for 36 berths – well beyond the original approval for 15. Not much is yet visible, but the huge and complex (because of the need for deep water pylons) base slab has been laid.
  • The PAC required the proponents to establish a Super Yachts Marina Community Liaison Committee and the Glebe Society was invited to participate in it. After some hesitation, we joined in January 2014 in the hope that we would access useful information around the construction and ensure that the development stayed within its approved parameters. It has only met once since then. Some useful information was provided by a consultant. I doubt that it serves much purpose at all.
  • In the longer term, our focus will be on ensuring that construction does not breach any of the approvals and that, once in operation, such controls as we achieved on operating hours and noise levels are respected. 
  • There have been several further sallies in the ongoing debate over the future of Glebe Island Bridge (GIB). In September 2013 Transport NSW published a cost benefit analysis of options for GIB by ACIL Allen Consulting. We responded with a deserved demolition of the narrow parameters and methodology of the report which failed to deliver on the Bays Precinct taskforce recommendation for a comprehensive review. We heard no more, but can be certain this report lives on in Transport and will surface again as justification for the long planned demolition of GIB. Support for adaptive reuse is strong – including from both Councils.

The Bays Precinct Saga

  • Given ongoing inaction from the Government on the Bays Precinct Taskforce recommendations and the invisibility of the announced ‘Implementation Committee’, our major focus for the first part of the year was on monitoring and registering our in-principle opposition to unsolicited development proposals for large parts of the Blackwattle Bay foreshores – including the Fish Markets. The oft-floated FishBank proposal morphed into a larger unsolicited proposal ‘Destination Blackwattle’ in alliance with the Elias group and supported by lobbyists with close connection to Government. Our understanding is that this – and maybe other unsolicited proposals – has gained some government support.
  • In July 2014 the new Premier and Minister for Planning announced the Bays Precinct Urban Renewal Project (BPURP) to berun by UrbanGrowth NSW. While pleased at the decision to develop the long argued for strategic plan for all (as it turned out, ‘some’) of the BP, we were outraged at the exclusion of the community from the front end of the process.
  • With colleagues from Pyrmont and Balmain, we called a public meeting to defend the public interest in the renewal process. It was hugely successful and endorsed strong resolutions including principles to protect the public interest, a demand for community representation at the November ‘Experts Summit’, a ‘People’s Summit’ and a Sydney-wide campaign.
  • Both City of Sydney and Leichhardt Councils were approached and have supported the resolutions, as has our MP Jamie Parker and the member for Sydney (Alex Greenwich) in Parliament; and Verity Firth got the ALP NSW conference to endorse the principles. City of Sydney has committed considerable resources to assisting us convene the People’s Summit and generating supporting academic input.
  • We have written a strong letter to the Premier and Minister for Planning and await their response. Urban Growth responded and we have had a constructive meeting with the CEO and senior staff. This has resulted in a commitment to invite 20 community representatives to the ‘Expert’s Summit’.
  • We have met with the Urbanism Discipline Group at University of Sydney to plan collaborative work for the Summit. This will include an interactive web discussion platform.
  • This week we were surprised by a new announcement from the Premier and the Minister for Planning setting up a high powered committee to develop a strategic vision for the harbour foreshores from the Bays Precinct to the Royal Botanic Gardens. This made no reference to the UrbanGrowth Bays project. It seems Urban Growth were not aware of this development. We are still trying to unravel the implications of this new body for the Bays Precinct project.
  • Our immediate focus is development of a campaign alliance – within the Bays Precinct community and more widely across Sydney – to influence this project and seize the opportunity to make it an exemplar ‘for the restoration of integrity, transparency, community engagement and respect for, and proper protection of, the public interest into NSW’s planning and development processes’. (letter to Premier)
  • A people’s summit will be held – either before or after the Government’s Expert’s Summit.
  • The Glebe Society website will be a central information portal for this campaign.
  • This campaign is hugely important. It cannot be run successfully by the Glebe Society, nor the collective Bays Precinct communities. We must have the kind of reach and muscle that was drawn together in the campaigns to block the expressway and to save the Glebe Estate. The Glebe Society is well situated to play an influential role.