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IS THE CITY OF CITIES STRATEGY THE ANSWER FOR SYDNEY?

IS THE CITY OF CITIES STRATEGY THE ANSWER FOR SYDNEY?. Glen Searle. SYDNEY’S MAIN PROBLEMS FOR A STRATEGIC PLAN. Air & water pollution Water supply Public transport Housing affordability Areas with serious socio-economic problems Lack of access to jobs related to skills & transport

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IS THE CITY OF CITIES STRATEGY THE ANSWER FOR SYDNEY?

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  1. IS THE CITY OF CITIES STRATEGY THE ANSWER FOR SYDNEY? Glen Searle

  2. SYDNEY’S MAIN PROBLEMS FOR A STRATEGIC PLAN • Air & water pollution • Water supply • Public transport • Housing affordability • Areas with serious socio-economic problems • Lack of access to jobs related to skills & transport • Lack of regional & local open space • Sydney’s global industries • Lack of community participation

  3. POLLUTION • Still problems with CO, particulates • NW & SW sectors are in worst areas for pollution dispersal • Maintenance of air quality as sustainability criterion for NW & SW unrealistic • Densities in new sectors too low for non-subsidised decent public transport • Even low runoff from NW & SW sectors will worsen Hawkesbury-Nepean algal bloom • Increased environmental water flows to Nepean problematic with climate change

  4. WATER SUPPLY • Nothing in strategy about recycling of ocean outfall sewage • Higher water charges & public education campaign necessary

  5. PUBLIC TRANSPORT • No targets for public transport use • The only new rail lines won’t be built until 2012 or 2017 • No planning for fast rail link from Parramatta to central Sydney • No planning for light rail lines in inner suburbs • Parramatta-city corridor needs high frequency light rail line • No new initiatives to boost walking or cycling • Exclusion of confirmed new arterials (M4-Citylink etc.) to give a sustainable spin

  6. HOUSING AFFORDABILITY • Housing affordability seen as solved through planning system and rent supplements • This is unlikely to provide affordable housing for lowest income quintile, which needs increase in public housing supply • Affordable housing targets for lowest income quintile should be set for each sub-region • Developer levy for 75% of new infrastructure reduces new house buyers’ affordability • Better solution is infrastructure benefit assessment scheme funded by Growth Centre Commission loans

  7. AREAS WITH SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS • Strategy silent on areas with serious deprivation • Regeneration plans funded by government needed, e.g. different versions of Redfern-Waterloo Authority • Regeneration needs to recognise different contexts - public housing vs NESB areas • Proposed enterprise corridors providing blighted business premises not sufficient

  8. LACK OF JOB ACCESS Skills-related: • Inadequate recognition of problem re western Sydney • Skills program for W Sydney needed, building on local TAFE strengths & opportunities Transport-related: • Western Sydney has relative lack of access to Global Arc, worsening with Macquarie Park development • Construction of Epping-Parramatta line & high-speed Parramatta-city line would significantly improve global job access

  9. OPEN SPACE • Up to 1,400 hectares of new local open space needed for 700,000 extra people in existing urban area: not addressed in strategy • Levies needed to buy this land • No new regional open space in strategy: Treasury funding issue • Opportunities for new regional open space missed, e.g. northerly extension of Western Sydney Parklands

  10. SYDNNEY’S GLOBAL ECONOMY BASE • Complacency in strategy • Some economic development proposals - innovation, industry clusters • But no funding, c.f. Queensland & Vic. • Nothing on retaining pre-eminence in global sectors like finance, producer service & tourism • No mention of policies to support Sydney Airport • Central and inner city amenity crucial for global & creative workers, but not addressed

  11. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION • Limited community input into strategy • Much wider consultation like Melbourne strategy needed • Community choice between different types of strategy needed, like Perth strategy • No proposal for new metro governance agency, but uncertain if such an agency would be less political or more democratic than state government

  12. BETTER STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR SYDNEY • Raise community awareness of good and bad development and planning • Develop forums/channels for dialogue between community & politicians • Proper resourcing of continuous metro planning • Annual report card on strategy as first step to greater government accountability for Sydney planning

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