Clover Moore slams $1.2b Entertainment Quarter proposal
It has been billed as a project that could invigorate the ‘tired’ Moore Park precinct. But Sydney’s Lord Mayor has hit out at the proposal.
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Clover Moore has slammed the “long and shameful history” of intensifying commercial uses in Moore Park after a mega $1.2 billion plan to redevelop the Entertainment Quarter was revealed last week.
The unsolicited proposal submitted directly to the State Government by Carsingha Investments promises to rejuvenate the “very tired” precinct, creating up to 8000 jobs in buildings up to 20 storeys and has garnered the support of the Sydney Business Chamber.
But it has drawn the ire of the Lord Mayor, who said it would result in the “effective sale and alienation” of public land the benefit of private investors.
“There is a long and shameful history of successive NSW governments carving off sections of Moore Park for private interests,” she said.
“This is another such proposal, and runs counter to the public interest and community needs, particularly given the growing population in the area.”
Headed by Gerry Harvey, John Singleton and Mark Carnegie, Carsingha would fund the project that seeks to transform the site into a mix of open space, retail and leisure facilities.
It is seeking to extend its current 30-year lease for the Entertainment Quarter, approved in 2014, by a further 99 years.
The plan includes four hectares of parkland, a fresh food market, restaurants, cafes, bars, a large 20m wide pedestrian boulevard and a 180 room 4.5 star hotel.
Sydney’s new light rail project will forever change the way people interact with and access the parklands, Entertainment Quarter chief executive Guy Pahor said.
“Our plans include a vision of the Entertainment Quarter as a new employment hub for creative industries – reinforcing the adjacent Fox Studios enterprise,” he said.
Cr Moore, however, has taken exception to the fact the proposal had proceeded to stage two without input from the community or council involvement.
“20 million people visit the Centennial and Moore Parklands annually and three out of every four people living in the City of Sydney live in an apartment – Moore Park is their backyard,” she said.
“We should be improving and expanding open space, public sporting and recreational facilities, not further eroding them.
“The government should not entertain any proposal that further encroaches on public parkland, or that encourages increased traffic congestion and carparking.”
Michael Waterhouse from Saving Moore Park took a more optimistic view, saying it was an opportunity to address the “continuing nightmare of poor services” in the Entertainment Quarter.
“There’s quite a lot about it to like, but there’s a few things we don’t like – one of those is a 20-storey tower which just isn’t appropriate,” he said.
“We understand that to make it viable you need to have a group of people working on site.
“What’s been put out there is a concept, as always the devil will be in the detail.”
