Metro
Quarter Fast tracked
A decision has been made to
split the Metro Quarter off from the Waterloo Public Housing Estate Master Plan
process and to fast track it to try and complete it by 2022. This is 2 years
before the trains are due to arrive.
Community information sessions
on the draft master plan for the Metro Quarter will be held on May
30 and 2 June so people can provide feedback on the proposal for the above
and below ground aspects of the station.
The Visioning report and study
summaries that cover both the Metro Quarter and the Estate were also expected
today but the release has been delayed yet again. The Visioning Report covers
the community engagement process in late 2017, which was to provide information
to Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC), UrbanGrowth NSW Development Corporation
(UGDC) and Transport for NSW (TfNSW) about what things residents wanted to keep
change and add as part of the redevelopment. The release of the study summaries
and subsequent study workshops were to increase people’s understanding of the
issues before they engaged in feedback on site specific proposals.
The
Waterloo Metro Quarter proposal for comment from 30 May
With the uncoupling of the Metro
and Estate SSD proposals, Waterloo Metro will now fast track consultation on
its proposal and leave LAHC to consult on its development options for the
public housing estate a couple of months down the track. UrbanGrowth NSW and
Sydney Metro will now directly lead the engagement on the Metro Quarter.
Previously engagement for both sites was done through LAHC.
The change means that
undertakings to the community, that they would have 6-8 weeks to digest the
visioning and study reports before looking at planning proposals has been
ignored. The fast track also means that, for the Metro Quarter, there will only
be one informal opportunity for the community to input rather than, the two
opportunities requested and agreed to, for the Waterloo Estate!
The flyer for the Metro Quarter
engagement only refers to two community drop-in sessions, however, we are
advised that there will be other discussions, through multilingual translators
and with the Aboriginal community. We have however not seen or had input into a
community engagement programme. Those making the decisions within TfNSW and
UGDC to accelerate the process have not been in any discussions with the local
groups set up to deal with government about the redevelopment. We hope that
this will happen in the near future so that the engagement process is as robust
as it needs to be to talk with the diversity of the Waterloo community.
The Metro Quarter engagement is
described by TfNSW and UGDC as a “non-statutory” engagement to ensure that the plans that are lodged with
the Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E) for assessment best
reflect community feedback. It follows the visioning engagement led by Land and
Housing Corporation last year. Statutory engagement, where submissions are
sought from the public, will follow. We anticipate this will happen in
November-December 2018.”
Community information sessions
will be held at Redfern Town Hall, so that people can view the draft masterplan
for the Metro Quarter and provide feedback. The sessions will be held on
Wednesday 30 May, 5-8pm and Saturday 2 June, 11am-2pm. Information and a
link to download the flyer can be found at www.ugdc.nsw.gov.au/growth-centres/redfern-to-waterloo/metro-quarter/.
For more information contact info@ugdc.nsw.gov.au.