City releases
alternate plan for Waterloo Estate
The City of Sydney
today released an alternate proposal
for the NSW Government’s redevelopment of the Waterloo
Housing Estate, calling
on the Government to scrap their current
plan and hand planning control
of the site back to the City of Sydney.
“It’s almost impossible trying to find anywhere on earth where
a Government has proactively planned
to build a residential neighbourhood as dense as this Government is planning
for Waterloo,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“Waterloo should not be a planning
experiment – it’s home to thousands of people who are devastated by what this Government is trying to do to their community.
“The City has extensive experience in urban
development and we know that what the Government is planning is an urban disaster – that’s why our staff have worked on a feasible
alternative.
“While the Government’s proposal
includes two parks, they will be overshadowed by the tall towers in midwinter, meaning grass will struggle to grow. The parks will also be impacted
by strong winds as a result of the buildings around them.”
The Government’s plans include increasing
density on the Estate from 2,012 dwellings
to 6,800 dwellings
two thirds of which are in 17 towers up to 40 storeys high.
Despite the site being public land, the Government is proposing 65 per cent of the homes on the site will be private housing,
with only 30 percent
dedicated as social housing
and five per cent as affordable.
the Government’s proposal
and the publicly available financial
information, and have developed an alternative approach.
The City’s proposal
includes a total of up to 5,300 homes. It retains the two 30 storey Matavai
and Turanga towers which are important and well-loved markers for the community, but other buildings would be between seven to nine storeys,
with 12 to 13 storeys
around a major park, and four storey buildings interspersed throughout.
It includes 40 per cent social
housing homes and five per cent affordable
housing homes, with the rest for private housing.
A significantly larger park would be the centrepiece of the precinct,
occupying 2.2 hectares
and receiving more than the minimum required
levels of sunshine.
The City’s
proposal also includes:
- a better ratio of social and market housing
(45 per cent social and affordable housing
and 55 per cent private
housing compared to the Governments ratio of 35:65); - better buildings with more sunshine
and natural ventilation; - better
economics, demolishing fewer buildings
requiring less new private housing; - less
height and density
that will integrate better with the surrounding area;
and - better
and greener parks and
public spaces with more sunshine without
windy downdrafts.
“Instead of being surrounded by towers, our park will have winter sunshine surrounded by shops and cafes,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Our plan also allows
existing social
housing residents to stay in the Estate
while the redevelopment occurs – we can do that by first building the new housing
in spaces around
the existing buildings.
“The
NSW Government has a choice
– use this once in a generational opportunity to create the kind of place where people will want to live and spend time in, or build a future ghetto of tall towers and overshadowed and unsafe public areas.”
The City’s alternative proposal
for Waterloo will be considered at an extraordinary meeting of the City of Sydney Council
on Monday 4 March. The Council is also holding
a public meeting
to discuss their
plans on Wednesday 6 March at Alexandria Town Hall from 6pm.
For over 15 years,
the City of Sydney has expertly planned,
coordinated and assessed large-scale development. Since 2004, the Council
has approved $25 billion worth of private
sector development –
and importantly, thanks to its Design Advisory Panel, it is high-quality, sustainable development that contributes to Sydney’s
amenity and its international reputation.