Call for alternate plan for Sydney’s fish market redevelopment

Sydney’s deputy lord mayor will tonight call on the City of Sydney to create its own vision for the Sydney Fish Market site amid concerns over the State Government’s redevelopment plan.

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The State Government promises Sydney’s new fish market at Blackwattle Bay will create a “vibrant economic and community hub” across the water from its old one.

It predicts the state-of-the-art market proposed for Glebe will improve on the three million people attracted to the current site each year when finished in 2023 — but not everyone is on board.

The winning design for the new Sydney Fish Market.

City of Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor Linda Scott will tonight call on the council to commission an alternate vision for the site and surrounding bays area, amid concerns of what will become of the Pyrmont foreshore once the current market is sold off for development.

Cr Scott said resident groups including the Glebe Society and Pyrmont Action Group had expressed their angst at the impact of a potential sale on public access to the water.

Deputy Lord Mayor Linda Scott. Picture: James Croucher

“Our community opposes the sale of public land on the foreshore and calls on its return for public use,” she said.

“The State Government has done very little consultation, with just three meetings attended by 225 people.

“It’s simply not enough for such a significant redevelopment proposal.”

Cr Scott said the government needed to ensure the fish market project fit with its greater masterplan for the bays precinct, which has not yet been unveiled.

Her motion also calls on Planning and Open Spaces Minister Rob Stokes to release the masterplan to the public.

Work on the project was earmarked for mid-2019 when announced in November but remains in the approval process.

How the Glebe foreshore would look under the new plan.

Established in 1945, the Pyrmont fish market attracts more people than the Great Barrier Reef and accounts for about 20 per cent of international visits to Sydney each year.

It is the largest fish market in the southern hemisphere and moves 14,500 tonnes of produce annually.

Its planned replacement would feature a ‘fish scale’ roof over an expanded cooking school, food kiosks, restaurants, bars and outdoor social spaces.

A new public wharf including a waterfront promenade, ferry stop and civic spaces are also planned.

Sydney Fish Markets is one of the city’s biggest drawcards for locals and visitors. Picture: Dylan Robinson

“This will become a vibrant economic and community hub that supports NSW’s fresh seafood industry, our professional fishers and coastal fishing towns from Eden to Tweed Heads,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in November.

“Relocating the fish market to the new site will return Blackwattle Bay’s foreshore to the public, improve pedestrian and cycling links and connect more of Pyrmont to the water as part of the long-awaited revitalisation of the area.”

Under the plan, which is expected to cost more than $250 million, the old market and land would be sold off to private investors for redevelopment.

The plan has the support of the Sydney Business Chamber, which welcomed the redevelopment as one that could “kickstart” Blackwattle Bay’s long-awaited revitalisation.