High-powered summit to kickstart Sydney’s Covid recovery

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet will convene a high-powered roundtable of government, business and community leaders on Friday to kickstart the city’s Covid recovery.

Bringing workers back into the city is a “civic duty” that will benefit the community both “socially and economically,” Premier Dominic Perrottet has declared.

In a bid to recapture the energy of the CBD, Mr Perrottet will convene a high-powered roundtable of government, business and community leaders on Friday to kickstart the city’s Covid recovery.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the state government’s third Sydney CBD Summit will take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Friday. Attendees will be tasked with finding solutions to lift the city out of its Covid slump.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced a third Sydney CBD Summit tasked with supporting the city’s Covid recovery will be held on Friday. Picture Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire.

With daily Covid cases dropping and hospitalisation rates still lower than the best-case scenario modelled by the government, Friday’s Summit will be tasked with ensuring the CBD is on the front-foot when a raft of restrictions are eased on March 1.

The restrictions set to be lifted include a requirement for people to wear masks inside (including in the office), and advice that people should work from home if they can.

“This summit will inject confidence that we are returning to a more normal way of living,” Mr Perrottet said.

A key focus of the summit will be on how to bring workers back into Sydney’s multiple CBDs, including Parramatta, as a way to boost economic activity.

“Bringing back workers to the city is a civic duty from which we will all derive benefit, socially and economically,” Mr Perrottet said, suggesting there could be a government push for public servants to get back to the office when restrictions are eased from next month.

Bringing public servants back into the office would specifically benefit the Parramatta CBD, where many government employees work.

Other options up for consideration include discounted public transport fares into the city on certain days, more live music, and additional events to make the city a more attractive place to visit and work.

The third CBD Summit follows on the success of last April’s event, which led to an alfresco dining boost and extra entertainment events across the city.

Additional discount vouchers are also designed to provide an economic lifeline for CBD businesses.

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello on Sunday announced that the Stay NSW voucher program, giving every adult a $50 voucher to spend on accommodation, will start to be rolled out from February 21.

Friday food and fun vouchers to be used in the city are also set to go live soon.

Also, discussions are underway about retooling the popular Dine and Discover voucher program to ensure people use their discounts when eating at a restaurant, rather than ordering takeaway.

“The future of our city is our shared story and we want everyone to be involved in shaping that,” Mr Perrottet said.

“Our role is to back business, back people and bring our city roaring back to life.”

“All over the world, people dream of coming to our Harbour City for work, pleasure and to live.

“We want to ensure that our CBD has the vibrant energy and strong economy to maintain our role as a global city,” Mr Perrottet said.