Bradfield Oration: Density is fine but where is the infrastructure
SYDNEY is one of the great cities of the world. But right now I think there is a real danger that we are losing our way, says Luke Foley.
Project Sydney
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SYDNEY is one of the great cities of the world.
Our city has got so much going for it, but we need to protect what makes it so good. We are the economic powerhouse of Australia with an advanced, diversified economy and strengths in finance, manufacturing, transport, tourism, health and education.
We are ringed by magnificent national parks, and enjoy a great climate, beautiful beaches and a stunning harbour.
And our society is tolerant, open and committed to the ideal that everyone deserves a fair go.
I want us to grow and develop, be open to new ideas and new people, but to do so in a way that protects the things we value — like access to good schools and local parks.
But right now I think there is a real danger that we are losing our way.
By 2031, our population is set to grow to around six million.
The priority has to be to make sure this growth is managed in a way that protects everything that makes Sydney such a great city in the first place.
At the moment we seem to be getting all the high-rise apartments, but not the critical social infrastructure that is so crucial for a growing population.
The government is going to put almost 9000 dwellings, or about 20,000 extra people, into Sydenham, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park.
But there is no plan to provide any new schools, or even new classrooms at existing schools, for this massive population increase.
At Bankstown the story is the same. The government wants to build 6000 new apartments — about 13,000 new residents.
But there is no plan to provide any new schools.
The local community is right to be concerned.
Right now the need to invest in schools is a critical priority.
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Over the next 15 years we’ll need 172,000 new school places.
The Greater Sydney Commission should have the power to take unused and underused land from other government departments to build new schools and expand existing ones.
There should be an audit of all government land to identify priority sites for new schools and for school expansions.
But instead of acting to meet the schools crisis, the government is continuing to sell off land that is owned by the Department of Education.
Just last month it sold a block of land owned by the Berala Public School — even though that school is already at 105 per cent capacity and needs to expand to meet increasing enrolments.
At Jordan Springs the community has been waiting for its schools for years. One was first promised in 2013.
Since then the houses have been built, the families came, the shops and offices are open — but the school is nowhere to be seen and no one can be sure if it will ever be built.
Right across Sydney, the story is the same.
People see development, and in many cases overdevelopment, but they don’t see the supporting services and social infrastructure.
At Wentworth Point the community was promised a Peninsula Park looking out over the waters of Homebush Bay.
That was six years ago.
In the meantime, Wentworth Point has become one of our fastest-growing suburbs, with attractive high-rise, high-density living on the Parramatta River.
Eight thousand people live in Wentworth Park today — and the suburb still doesn’t have a park. The promised park is still a bleak wasteland. What should be an attractive urban parkland, with creative playgrounds for children, is fenced off and barren.
How can there be more than $2 billion for shiny new sports stadiums, but not enough money for schools to educate our kids? Or for the parks that they need to play in?
People are right to expect better than this. My vision for Sydney is for it to be an attractive, vibrant and creative place.
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We should be confident about our future and all the opportunities that the 21st century offers.
But we need to make educating our kids a top priority so that every one of them has the best chance to succeed. This means we have to invest in schools, parks and playgrounds. We need TAFEs, sporting fields, libraries and cultural centres.
Not just giant toll roads.
I’ll always back Sydney to succeed.
We are a wonderful multicultural city with so much going for us.
As Australia’s only global city, Sydney has got to be at the cutting edge of economic change and the opportunities that future decades will bring. That will depend on equipping our kids with a good education and high skills.
And we can’t do that unless we build more schools.
Luke Foley is the leader of NSW Labor