“The
NSW Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, is drunk with power and
should come clean and reveal what his actual plans are for the Carlton
& United Breweries site on Broadway are ” Mr Andrew Woodhouse said
today commenting on a decision rammed through by his representatives on the
CSPC last night at an extra-ordinary meeting called by its Chair, Clover Moore
MP, Lord Mayor.
“By a
slim majority of 4-3 the Central Sydney Planning Committee voted, despite
Clover Moore, MP, Lord Mayor and Clrs McInerney and Mallard voting against
the motion, to refer this major $500m development project back to Frank Sartor
as Minister for planning.
He now has
sole repsosnsibility for it.
“In the
process, Frank Sartor receives a bonus cheque for millions of dollars in
developer contributions to add to depleted state coffers.
The main
motive is money Mr Woodhouse
The meeting
was called after committee members received a letter described by Clr Mallard
as “offensive” from the Minister.
The letter
states:
“I am
writing to express my concern …with regard to … delays [over the (CUB)
site.”
” I
require further latitude in the FSR controls. Limited increases could be
incorporated on the site …through a …competition process.
” I am
now requesting that you clarify your position …within 14 days of the date of
this letter.”
[Source:
Attachment A CSPC 7 June 2006 background notes, pp6-7 letter ref: Y06/1496 from
Frank Sartor MP]
The letter,
oddly enough is undated.
“Good
planning policy requires three things: certainty, fairness and finality.
“And
these are being ignored by Frank Sartor as the project now does back to stage
one.
“Years
of community input are being treated with complete contempt.
“Heritage
controls will be ignored” Mr Woodhouse said.
“This
heritage-listed site is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register twice and has significance as the only
former remaining inner city brewery, with remnants dating from 1835.
“The
site has:
“aesthetic
significance .. [and] significant town and streetscape value”.
In
addition, the administration building, dating from 1910, also on the NSW State
Heritage Register is noted for:
“its
intact boardroom interiors including the “Show bar”.
[for full
heritage register extracts see www.nswheritage.gov.au search
register under Broadway]
“This
early industrial site, a thumbprint of our past, has been languishing in limbo
since before 2003” Mr Woodhouse said.
“Lucy
Turnbull, former Lord Mayor said in 2003 that then “current height
proposals will make Soviet Moscow look friendly” [see below for source of
quote].
If Frank
Sartor has his way she might turn out to be right Mr Woodhouse said
“At
the time she urged residents to provide their comments to council planners
“to ensure we achieve the best possible outcome for ALL parties” [our emphasis]- see
her December 2003 update below.
“That
turned out to be a pious hope . The CSPC is a token democratic group made up of
Sartor’s government appointees and a few City Councillors” Mr Woodhouse
said.
None of
the government appointees are elected by any constituent, they don’t live in
the area and don’t represent or reflect the community or its views Mr
Woodhouse said in response to a statement by a Mr Bird, an appointee on the
committee that he represented the “wider” community.
“The
CSPC government reps have become a matrix of marionettes” Mr Woodhouse
said.
“Now
that Frank Sartor, the Minister For Everything-Else, has swallowed the
once-independent NSW Heritage Office into his planning department, the
community can have no confidence in the NSW Heritage Office’s recommendations.
“Their
recommendations have time and time again have been rightly knocked back by the
NSW Land & Environment Court eg., The Abbey, Glebe site, St Johns Anglican
Church Darlinghurst site and Ashton,
Elizabeth Bay Road site.
“The
Heritage Office has lost touch with community expectations and has lost its
credibility: it has become another rubber-stamping, government approval arm and
has been sucked into the vortex of Frank’s fiefdom” Andrew Woodhouse said.
“We
expect the NSW Heritage Office to sanction almost anything Frank wants for the
Carlton & United Breweries site to satiate the developers’ unending
appetite to suck more money out of their investment.
“It’s
time”, as the Labor Party has a tradition of saying, for the public to
know how much Frank Sartor has propitiated the developers Mr Woodhouse
said in conclusion.
Phone
Andrew Woodhouse 0415 949 506 for further information
Lord
Mayoral CUB Update 1 – December 2003 from Lucy Turnbull
“Thank you to the residents of Chippendale who took the
time and interest to attend the briefing I recently organised on the
preliminary planning study for the Kent Brewery site. As requested, the
presentation by Philip Thalis, commissioned by the City of Sydney, is available on this website for you
to review.
The significance of the Kent Brewery site and its importance to the future of
Chippendale means that local community input will be a vital component of the
planning and approval process. The City of Sydney goes further than any other
consent authority in Australia in ensuring development controls and
architectural designs for major or significant sites are first class. Philip
Thalis’ work is the first stage in this process – a process we want to ensure
we get right.
As I said at our meeting, the current height controls will make Soviet Moscow
look friendly! If you go to the links to drawings 29 & 31 you will see what
I mean. Hill Thalis have fine tuned the height limits to ensure that more
appropriate and diverse building types are introduced in appropriate locations
(drawings 30 and 32). Maximum height planes will also be introduced on the site
to ensure that overshadowing is minimised.
Please take the time to review Philip’s presentation on this website and
provide us with your feedback by 1 December 2003. Your thoughts on traffic
control, open space, community uses and building heights will be forwarded to
our planners to ensure that we achieve the best possible outcome for all
parties.
Lucy Turnbull
Lord Mayor