Are new high-rises and a station enough to bring life to North Sydney?

North Sydney is set to be transformed by billions of dollars of office and residential tower projects, but critics question whether the building boom will revive a CBD still suffering from the COVID-19 crisis and years of bad planning.

Big ticket projects include a 42-storey office tower which will sit above Victoria Cross Metro station, under construction below Miller Street in North Sydney’s CBD. North Sydney Council earlier this year approved a 51-storey office tower on Walker Street, the same street where plans have been submitted for a new 28-storey residential tower.

North Sydney federal MP Kylea Tink said the suburb was “woefully short” of green spaces and sporting facilities.Credit: Edwina Pickles

While much of the development is being welcomed for its positive impact, beneath the tall towers lay a litany of issues – traffic congestion, uninviting streets and lack of a night-time economy – that need to be resolved to revive North Sydney’s fortunes. And opinion is divided on the solutions to these problems.

North Sydney mayor Zoe Baker said the new Metro station will provide more rapid access to the commercial district as well as nearby schools. It is also the impetus for Miller Place – a new public space that Baker said “will create a true centre to the CBD”.

Baker warned, however, that existing infrastructure needs to be addressed for the new developments to be a success.

“Without a commitment to abandon the Western Harbour Tunnel access on Berry Street, those plans will be totally undermined and result in increased traffic running like a scar through the centre,” she said.

North Sydney mayor Zoe Baker said plans to improve the CBD will be undermined if the Western Harbour Tunnel access on Berry Street goes ahead.Credit: Janie Barrett

North Sydney federal MP Kylea Tink also highlighted concerns about traffic and infrastructure planning on the North Sydney CBD.

She said the CBD was being squeezed by major road projects that would benefit other parts of Sydney, but “there’s no doubt that the losers are the people of North Sydney”.

Tink said planning for these projects lacked long-term vision, transparency and proper consultation with the community, while North Sydney was left “woefully short” of green spaces and sporting facilities.

“What I would like to see is North Sydney CBD be a thriving community,” she said. “A place where people do look forward to going and a place where there is a real sense of activity and arts and culture and community on the ground.”

Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said the North Sydney CBD showed what happens when a suburb is exclusively preserved for commercial buildings.

”Because nobody lives in the town centre, it is a ghost town after 5pm every weekday and is desolate on weekends,” he said. “Those that live nearby want to preserve their own amenity in aspic – like a glorified retirement village for the privileged.”

Forrest said taller towers would pay for more public open space “but most of all, mixed use development with apartments are desperately needed to breathe life into what has become a city without soul”.

Waverton Precinct chairman Ian Grey also said new office and apartment towers would bring more people to North Sydney and potentially lead to cinemas, restaurants, museums or galleries.

Harbour Bridge traffic heading to North Sydney.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Grey said viewing areas of the harbour, open green spaces, dedicated pedestrian and proper cycling routes were needed to make the North Sydney CBD a more attractive place to work.

Like Baker, Grey welcomed the metro line but said the community “was stunned at the stupidity of the traffic plans associated with the Western Harbour Tunnel project, whatever its merits.”

Committee for North Sydney president Geoff Hanmer said the North Sydney CBD is “a mess – cut in half by busy roads, the configuration of buildings preventing what could be spectacular views of the harbour, the Opera House, the Bridge and the city”.

Hanmer, adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Adelaide, said North Sydney lacked open spaces where workers could eat lunch, while large office towers had turned many streets into “sunless wind tunnels”.

“Given how special the site of the CBD is, overlooking the harbour, the fact that you can’t see it from most places at ground level within the CBD demonstrates years of planning neglect,” he said.

Hanmer called for solutions to the lack of open space, traffic congestion and a proper bus interchange before more buildings are built.

“Serious thought should be given to roofing over the Warringah Freeway and making a grand open space to the east of the CBD,” he said.

North Sydney could also be home to a museum of the moving image or Australian architecture given it used to be the hub for television, advertising and creative industries.

Widening footpaths would encourage outdoor dining and more pedestrians, Hanmer said.

“A good start would be the provision of meaningful open space so that office workers have a place to eat their lunch.”

Airtasker chairman and new North Sydney councillor James Spenceley built his telco business Vocus in North Sydney and said “it’s a genuine and in my opinion better place to work than the Sydney CBD”.

Spenceley said North Sydney should be the city’s second CBD given its harbour location and transport links – “the only things missing is vision, alignment and a bit of hard work from council”.

As residents raise concerns about overdevelopment, Spenceley said the council had to be vigilant in ensuring new developments are well-designed and do not block the sun.

“We don’t want the CBD to become a concrete jungle,” he said. “We need to keep good and clear definition between buildings and create beautiful developments.”