Initial Waterloo State Significant Precinct Declaration Details

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The long
awaited declaration of the Waterloo State Significant Precinct (SSP) happened
in a Media Release dated 18 May
which was made public on Friday 19 May 2017. The declaration means that master
planning for the redevelopment of the Waterloo public housing estate can now
start. Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) which owns the estate expect
capacity building to continue over the next month or so and for consultation
workshops to start towards the end of June/beginning of July. The current
relocation date for the first tenants to be moved from the estate has not been
pushed back past mid-2018 even though the planning process is expected to take
up to 18 months to complete from its commencement.

Below is
what we know from the declaration and the initial release of information by
LAHC.

The SSP
declaration covers the entire area of the consolidated Waterloo public
including the private property within the boundary of the consolidated estate.
NSW Planning and Environment on the State Significant Precincts page for Waterloo
spells out the implications for private property holders as “should rezoning
take place, future development proposals would be assessed against new and
amended planning controls”. The declaration also covers what will happen over
the land being compulsorily required for the new underground Waterloo Metro
Railway station. This area is now referred to as the Metro Quarter. Concerns
have been expressed about the density that might be put above Metro station to
help pay for Sydney Metro and  the
recommendations for what happens on this site will also be part of the SSP
assessment.

You can
see the area covered in the 20-hecare precinct in the declaration’s map parts of Waterloo (PDF map,
3.6MB). If you compare this map with the map of the estate and the Metro site
resumption on the Central to Eveleigh Waterloo page (reproduced here) you can see the
private property areas along Wellington Street and Cope Street between
Wellington and John Streets which are not coloured in the UrbanGrowth map.

UrbanGrowth
NSW will participate in master planning across the SSP site. In the Metro
Quarter, UrbanGrowth will develop a comprehensive master plan. On the LAHC land
it will assist LAHC with technical work involved in developing the master plan
for its site. NSW Planning and Environment says that the metro station design
and the master plan for the Waterloo estate will be integrated. The statement
says FACS will organise a series of master planning workshops for the
community, but it is not currently clear who will handle engagement for the
private landowners whose properties presumably will not be master planned. The
statement on the Communities Plus website makes no reference to
the private land within the estate which FACS is master planning and nothing at
all has been posted yet by UrbanGrowth since the SSP declaration. NSW Planning
and Environment says it will write to property owners within the precinct to
formally notify them of the rezoning investigation and explain the SSP process
for Waterloo.

In a statement to REDWatch on 22 May 2017 we were advised “LAHC is leading the community engagement and communications for the Waterloo SSP precinct.  This includes the estate, above station, as well as engagement with the private owners.  The Communities Plus website will be the repository of information for the Waterloo redevelopment and the community will be informed when new information is posted on the website via the WRG [Waterloo Redevelopment Group] and via other channels.  To make it easier for the residents, the community and other stakeholders, all inquiries should be channelled through LAHC, via Waterloo Connect and LAHC will direct the queries to relevant areas and respond back.“

The
precinct will now be investigated for rezoning through the State Significant Precincts process. The specific
studies to be undertaken over the next 12-18 months are expected to be made
public in coming days. Undertakings were given by LAHC that the community will
have access to the scope of the studies and will have the opportunity to ask
for key issues of concern which are not already included to be added.

Once the
master plan process is completed FACS and UrbanGrowth NSW will submit a State
Significant Precinct Study to support the rezoning proposals to NSW Planning
and Environment. NSW Planning and Environment and the City of Sydney Council
will jointly assess proposals within the State Significant Precinct Study.

While the
City of Sydney Council has been, and will continue to be, involved in within
the SSP tent, City of Sydney Council has previously recognised around Central
to Eveleigh that it also needs to work with residents so that it can make an
informed input into the planning process.

REDWatch has invited representatives from City of Sydney
Council to the REDWatch meeting on Thursday 1st June to present on
Density done Well – what does it mean for a redevelopment like Waterloo?

A forum for Agencies dealing with the Waterloo community
will take place at Projects 107, 107 Redfern St on Thursday 25th May, between
12pm and 3.30pm by Inner Sydney Voice (previously Inner Sydney Regional
Council for Social Development). This forum will include input from LAHC on the
master planning and is aimed to help agencies respond to their clients concerns
heading into master planning. Agency representatives are encouraged to attend a
the “Waterloo Redevelopment – Where Do We Start?’ forum. Please RSVP to Thomas
at cb@innersydneyvoice.org.au
to secure a spot and for catering purposes.

You can find information about various aspects of the
Waterloo redevelopment on the following websites:

Material
from the current redevelopment proposals is being posted on the REDWatch
website at  Waterloo
Public Housing Redevelopment & Metro Station.