Flanked by
senior officials from Operations, Planning and Sustainability divisions of
Council, the Lord Mayor announced the start of the first phase of the Green
Square redevelopment.
Green
Square includes the suburbs of Alexandria, Beaconsfield, Rosebery and Zetland.
Unlike Barangaroo, Green Square has been planned to be among the most
sustainable, and one of very few natural gas tri-generation powered
communities, in Australia.
“We want
Green Square to be Australia’s first low-carbon community,” said the Lord
Mayor.
Tri-generation,
a form of power using natural gas rather than coal, is so-called because it
yields power, hot water and cooling.
The first
stage of the high-density mixed residential, business and community
infrastructure will be to construct a 14-hectare Green Square Town Centre,
featuring a civic square the size of Martin Place between George Street and
Pitt Street. The heritage administration building at the South Sydney hospital
site will form the heart of the tri-generation operations and an environmental
education centre.
By the end
of 2013 the first community facilities in the Town Square will be completed and
environmental technologies are expected to be installed. City of Sydney is
taking advantage of this rare opportunity to build infrastructure that will
revolutionise local area environmental sustainability in Australia.
In addition
to cutting carbon emissions, City of Sydney has an ambitious stormwater
management plan to provide 100 per cent of the area’s non-potable water needs.
Shea’s Creek, a stormwater channel that comes from Randwick and Kensington,
will be filtered and the water accessed.
All
buildings will be designed to meet new standards so that they will fulfil the
City of Sydney 2030 sustainability goals.
There is
even a feasibility study into ducted waste disposal under the streets, thus
doing away with rubbish trucks. This technology uses suction through a
subterranean network. Sounds like science fiction? From what Council says, this
aspect of innovation is not as strongly advanced as the others, but still a
possibility.
The Lord
Mayor emphasised that environmental sustainability was not the only concern,
saying that aesthetic and usability factors were also highly valued. She wants
Green Square to set “new design benchmarks” and achieve “beautiful design and
beautiful facilities”.
Although
Green Square has an underground railway station just one stop from Central,
this will need to be augmented to serve the new community.
The new
Government department, Transport for NSW, says it is investigating the
feasibility of extending light rail through the CBD, to the University of NSW
and to the University of Sydney as part of a transport “Masterplan” for NSW.
9,300
workers and 5,800 residents are projected in the Town Centre alone.
A
proportion of those residents will have children, but no schools have been
incorporated into the plans. The existing local school, Waterloo Public School,
is no longer a comprehensive local school, but a special school for children
with disabilities. No land has been set aside for a school.
Council
depends on the Department of Education to supply reliable projections about the
demand for more schools, in keeping with the increased population. City of
Sydney has provided updated statistics to inform the discussions and
projections. John Dwyer, Senior Program Manager, said that the “City is making
the point very strongly” that the Department has to get it right.
The Green
Square redevelopment will take over a decade to build, with private building
construction continuing up until 2024 and full occupation by 2031.
City of
Sydney will be involving the community in naming parks, streets and public
places, including new streets and malls.
Photo:
Artist’s impression of Green Square Town Square
Source: South Sydney Herald December 2011 www.southsydneyherald.com.au