Pyrmont residents debate proposed Ritz Carlton tower
A meeting of supporters and critics of the proposed Ritz Carlton tower has seen Pyrmont largely divided on age lines with older residents arguing against construction and younger ones embracing the development.
NSW
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Supporters and critics of the proposed $500 million Ritz Carlton tower at Pyrmont today argued their case for and against to the Independent Planning Commission.
Town planner Clare Brown opened the batting in favour of the 237 metre tower that will provide 1000 construction jobs and 750 jobs when it is done.
She said environmental plans put the proposed tower sat in the Darling Harbour Precinct and Harbour CBD rather than low-rise Pyrmont.
After a lengthy planning process, including a design excellence panel, she said it was “a surprise” the proposal had been recommended for refusal.
But she said independent expert Professor Peter Webber had been provided with just four of 40 detailed reports relating to the proposal.
And she said the planning department’s report appeared to be “opinion based” rather than using accepted methodology.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore told the highly partisan meeting the City Council “objects because the community has told us they don’t want a 230 metre tower dominating their suburb and the foreshore.”
Ms Moore said the decision called into question the future of planning laws in NSW which need to “apply to everyone whether you are a local business, resident or a casino magnate”.
Margy Osmond from the Tourism and Transport Forum said the tower represented a massive boost to Sydney and Australia’s tourism industry and the economy. “It is a central part of the future of our economy,” she said.
Rejecting it “will be an awful outcome for Sydney and it will be an awful outcome for tourism.”
Ms Osmond said the “extensive and vexed process that led to this development will send the wrong message” to investors looking to Sydney from overseas.
Long term Pyrmont resident David Miles said of 15,000 people in Pyrmont it seemed only the 40 or so in the IPC hearing in Customs House objected to the proposal.
“I am a resident of Pyrmont, shortly to be labelled a heretic, I support the tower and think it is an excellent design and I love it.
“This tower will look over my place and it won’t bother me at all. It will be good for Pyrmont, it will be good for local business and it will be good for NSW.”
Katherine O’Regan, Sydney Business Chamber executive director, said: “The proposal presents the next step into the exciting future of the expanding Western Harbour super precinct, with a clear and exciting vision of a new era for the Pyrmont foreshore.
“With the economic and employment outcomes clearly on offer, this proposal is a great opportunity to put into practice the Premier’s recent assertion that “Pyrmont is open for business” part of the new and expanding Darling Harbour redevelopment in our city of opportunity,” she said.
The residents presenting to the panel were largely divided on age lines — older residents spoke against while younger ones embraced the opportunities and change the tower presents.
Zena Vaassen said her home backed on to The Star and said “The Ritz Carlton Tower threatens the liveability of our home.” She cited shadow, noise pollution and late hours among the threats to her “heritage home”.
But Maximilian Bak said he lived in one of the closest buildings to the proposed tower and had been on the consultation committee from the very outset and felt it was “truly iconic in nature” that will be a “landmark for both Pyrmont and the city.
“I would like my city to be open to the world, open to tourism and open to business,” he said.
IPC panel Chair Dianne Leeson said “for the record we are unaware of any conflicts of interest” in dealing with the application.
Sitting on the three member panel was architect Adrian Pilton, who the IPC has said has no conflict of interest despite four members of the architecture firm JPW that he founded and left in 2015, signing a Sydney City Council funded protest letter against the tower.