Email from Clover Moore
I need your help to protect Waterloo.
Waterloo is currently under threat by State Government
plans for massive residential towers above the future metro station.
I am alarmed that the scale of development the Government
is proposing will condemn people to substandard conditions and massively impact
surrounding housing, existing parks, streets and open space. They are also
failing to use this opportunity to deliver desperately needed social and
affordable housing [1].
700 apartments are proposed but only 70 homes will be set
aside for social housing and 35 for affordable rental units. And UrbanGrowth
has only committed to providing affordable housing for ten years.
It seems the real focus is on maximising the financial
returns from the sale of this public land rather than planning for the kind of
area that people will want to live and work in over the coming decades.
Right now, the State Government is accepting submissions
on this development and if enough of us raise concerns before 30 January, we
can push for the project to be referred to the Independent Planning Commission,
where our community can argue for an improved and more sustainable design
at a public hearing.
We need to hold the Government to account over its
complete disregard of proper planning processes and demand our city is designed
with people at the centre – not commercial interests.
Over the past 18 months, this Government has evicted
social housing tenants from their homes in Millers Point to raise revenue [2],
begun to tear down the Moore Park Stadium despite overwhelming community
opposition [3], and overridden City planning controls to propose a 237
metre hotel and residential eyesore in an area with a 28 meter height
limit. [4]
In Waterloo, the State Government has two different
proposals for massive developments adjacent to each other – three towers
ranging up to 29 storeys above the future Waterloo metro station and the
redevelopment of the Waterloo Estate will include towers up to 40 storeys high
and 7200 new homes.
We strongly believe these two proposals should be
considered together so that our community can understand the combined impacts
of these massive developments on local neighbours.
These sites are on public land and should only be used
for public good. Given the housing crisis in New South Wales, any development
should deliver more social and affordable housing on the site,
permanently.
As a community, we believe in keeping public lands in the
hands of the public – not selling them off to the highest bidder.
I’m committed to working with you and all those affected
by this proposed development, to fight for a design that delivers homes and
amenity for our community.
Thanks for your support.
Signed,
Clover
redevelopment, Sydney Morning Herald, 2018.
[2] Last of the Millers Point and Sirius tenants hang on as
the money now pours in, The Conversation, 2017
[3] By the state election, a quarter of the roof of Allianz
Stadium will already be gone, Sydney Morning Herald, 2018
[4] ‘Aesthetic disgrace’: Proposed tower on casino site
divides opinion, Sydney Morning Herald, 2018
Supporting Information
Clover has placed support material on her website at https://www.clovermoore.com.au/waterloometroquarter.
Raise your concerns to protect Waterloo
The Department of Planning and Environment is currently
undertaking two separate consultations on its proposed development of the Metro
Quarter.
The proposals include:
-
Changes
to planning controls that will allow for increased height and density on
the site. -
Concept
plans for 3 buildings up to 29 storeys in height over the new metro
station.
If enough of us raise our concerns with the development,
it is more likely the project will be considered by the Independent Planning
Commission, where our community can use public hearings to argue for an
improved design.
How do I submit my concerns?
You have until 30 January 2019 to submit your concerns to
the Department.
Because the Department has split up the projects into separate
consultations, it is important that you submit your concerns on both the
webpages below. It doesn’t matter if your responses include the same
information.
To make your submissions, click on the following links:
Changes to the planning controls: http://planspolicies.planning.nsw.gov.au/
Concept plans: http://www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index
Not sure what to say?
Your submission doesn’t need to be long and detailed.
Our team of planners have identified the concerns with
the project. Write your submission in your own words, but feel free to include those
concerns. [These issues are the content of the sample submission below].
REDWatch has been asked by some tenants to take the
issues identified on Clovers website into a draft submission that people can
use, either in making a submission through the planning portals or copy for a
written submission. Below is the template:
Sample Submission based on the issues raised by Clover
and her planners
Waterloo Metro Submission to both:
1) Waterloo Metro Quarter State Significant Precinct
(SSP) Study Exhibition (planning controls):
online submission via http://planspolicies.planning.nsw.gov.au/ or post
to: Director – Urban Renewal, Department of Planning and Environment, GPO Box
39, SYDNEY, NSW 2001
2) Waterloo
Metro Quarter Over Station Development State Significant Development
Application SSD 18_9393 (the development
application): online submission via http://www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/ or post
to: Key Sites Assessments, Department of Planning and Environment, GPO Box 39,
SYDNEY, NSW 2001.
Dear Department of Planning
Assessment Officer
I wish to object to the Waterloo Metro
Quarter SSP and SSD 18_9393.
I wish to object for the
following reasons:
• By
separating assessment of the Metro Quarter over station development and the
Waterloo Estate development, the Department is failing to consider the obvious
cumulative impacts of the projects, including density, congestion and amenity
impacts like overshadowing. These applications must be assessed together.
• The Metro
Quarter and the Waterloo Estate will triple the density of the area, making it
one of the highest density precincts in Australia with 700 dwellings in the
Metro Quarter and up to 7,200 new homes in the Waterloo Estate
• Of the 700
apartments proposed in the Metro Quarter, only 70 homes will be set aside for
social housing, and 35 for affordable rental units. And the State Government’s
development corporation, UrbanGrowth, is only committing to providing
affordable housing for ten years.
• The Metro
Quarter and Waterloo Estate sites are on public land and should exist for the
public good. Given the housing crisis in New South Wales, any development
should deliver more social and affordable housing on the site, permanently.
• The Metro
Quarter and Waterloo Estate will introduce 4,300 additional vehicles in an
already dense and congested urban setting. This congestion will be further
impacted by WestConnex.
• Urban
Growth has proposed 427 car parking spaces. Parking spaces are unnecessary and
inappropriate in a development located directly above a metro station, because
it encourages people to own and drive cars in an already congested part of our
city. This is particularly undesirable when the dwelling are in such close
proximity to public transport.
• It is
currently the developer’s responsibility to partner with a community housing
provider to deliver social and affordable homes. This should be the
responsibility of Urban Growth.
• The current proposal includes
only 15 percent low amenity open space that is accessible to the public. Urban
Growth’s claim that there is 53 per cent open space is misleading, because the
majority of this is made up of private rooftop gardens.
The overshadowing impacts of the
Metro Quarter and Waterloo Estate should be assessed as a whole, not in
isolation of each other.
Sincerely
Name:
_______________________________________________________________________
Include Name Organisation and
Position if submission made on behalf of an organisation:
Address:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Email Address: _______________________________________________________________________
I do / do not want my name
published in the list of submitters on the department’s website. If you wish to maintain your privacy in this
submission process, you must 1) request your name be withheld from the list of
submitters and not include any of your personal information in your submission
or attachments.
I confirm that I have not made
any reportable donations and agree to the Department’s Privacy Statement.