Pyrmont Peninsula Place strategy plan to be unveiled by NSW government
A 20-year plan to revitalise the Pyrmont peninsula has been unveiled today — and it will clear the way for The Star casino’s $500 million, 51-storey Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel tower. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK.
NSW
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Pyrmont is officially open for business, with a 20-year-vision for the peninsula unveiled today that will create 23,000 new jobs and 800,000 square metres of commercial and office space.
It will also finally brush aside the objections of local Not-In-My-Backyard NIMBYs to clear the way for a $500 million, 51-storey Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel tower at The Star casino.
The state government’s Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy is a victory for The Daily Telegraph’s campaign to open the suburb to jobs and tourism and allow it to realise its potential as the western gateway to the CBD.
Unveiling the plan on Friday, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the strategy would retain the “unique character” of Pyrmont while helping to revitalise the area.
He said construction had been heavily impacted by the pandemic and being able to restart the industry was “crucial” to the state’s economic recovery.
“The biggest industry that has been affected by the pandemic in New South Wales has been the construction industry, and I think that’s masked somewhat by all the cranes we have in the skies over the city,” he said.
“Construction has driven our economy before this pandemic, adding about half a percentage point of growth each year and hundreds of thousands of jobs off the back of it, but the construction industry is (now) doing it tough.”
The new buildings would be supported by new infrastructure, with the State Government considering a potential metro station at Pyrmont as part of the Sydney Metro West project, a new indoor sports and entertainment venue and more public spaces.
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It delivers on Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s vow that “Pyrmont is open for business”, made after the independent Planning Commission rejected the Ritz-Carlton tower because it was “inconsistent” with the rest of Pyrmont’s 28m height limit.
The new strategy will make the rest of Pyrmont more consistent with the Ritz-Carlton, with The Star also earmarked as the site for a second 16-storey tower that will give it more floors in total than the original 61-storey proposal.
The Star had already agreed to cut the height to 53 floors after NIMBYs in two terraced houses complained it would block their view.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes said Pyrmont will play a “pivotal role in supercharging economic growth.”
“With more commercial floor space, it will attract more business and, importantly, create more jobs”.
Mr Stokes said Pyrmont “has the potential to be a 24/7 destination for locals and visitors alike within walking distance from the city”.
“Pyrmont is more than a local village — it is a vital part of our global city,” he said.
The plan also includes a new indoor sports and entertainment venue aimed at becoming Sydney’s answer to New York’s famed Madison Square Garden.
It will focus development on four key hubs to ensure heritage areas are protected. Development will concentrate on The Star, the Harbourside Shopping Centre, UTS Haymarket and Blackwattle Bay.
“These key sites have been identified for revitalisation over the next 20 years and we are keen to ensure that parks, public spaces and the unique character of Pyrmont is protected,” Mr Stokes said.
The existing Sydney Fish Market site at Blackwattle Bay site has been earmarked for new office and residential towers, as well as public spaces and pedestrian and cycle paths that will open up the harbour foreshore and connect it to the rest of the city.
The Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy and Economic Development Strategy will lay the planning guidelines for the area for the next 20 years. It forecasts an extra 800,000 square metres of commercial and office space that will create 23,000 jobs.
“We cannot miss an opportunity to kickstart our economic recovery, and Pyrmont gives us just that,” Mr Stokes said.
He has overhauled NSW’s moribund planning system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to fast-track projects, including the new $750 million new Sydney Fish Market where work is about to begin.
“By fast-tracking assessments we are boosting the construction pipeline, keeping people in jobs and ensuring the economy keeps moving,” he said.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore has also been thrown a bone, with plans to return Wentworth Park to open parkland when the Greyhound Racing NSW lease expires in 2027.
It is understood the government will work with the industry to locate a new greyhound racing facility outside the inner city in Greater Sydney.
“Delivering public benefit is also vitally important, which is why part of our vision is to return Wentworth Park to the people as beautiful, high-quality green open space,” Mr Stokes said.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said great cities needed to grow and improve all the time.
The strategy also focuses on transport, with a new metro station on the $20 billion metro west line.
“Connecting Pyrmont with Western Sydney would encourage jobs, investment and economic growth,” Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.
Visiting the Fish Market yesterday, Kenny Ho said it was a nice place — but due for an upgrade.
“When it is busy it is too overcrowded, a bigger space would be great,” he said.