Sydney’s in clover, Lord Mayor Clover Moore says; the next generation begs to differ

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has laid out her vision for a once unthinkable but now likely sixth term in a final council meeting, as her challengers put forward their case | GRAPHIC: MAYORAL REPORT CARD

Clockwise from main: Sydney City’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore addresses council at the Town Hall on Monday night; Liberal candidate Lyndon Gannon; Labor candidate Zann Maxwell; independent candidate Yvonne Weldon.

How do you fit 20 years of power over a global city into just 14 pages? Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has done her best in a final council meeting before she asks voters to give her even more time.

Ending her fifth term at Sydney’s iconic Town Hall on Monday night decked in gold mayoral chains, 78-year-old Ms Moore presented her achievements and laid out a vision for a once unthinkable but now likely sixth term in office.

Cycling and cycleways, climate action, urban greenery, creative industries, and housing – this is what Australia’s longest serving and oldest leader is selling to Sydney voters for September’s local government elections, as well as making George Street pedestrian friendly, “securing Oxford Street’s future”, and a role in the Minns government’s Moore Park Golf Course land-grab.

“During this term, we have continued to achieve great outcomes – for those who live in our city now as well as those who will live, work, run their business or visit here in the future,” she read from a 14-page mayoral “minute” to the City of Sydney council, which she and her supporters dominate.

Ms Moore is almost certain to win on September 14, but is facing a challenge from a new generation of leaders, including Labor’s Zann Maxwell, 35, and current Liberal councillor Lyndon Gannon. The city’s first Indigenous councillor, Yvonne Weldon, is running again as an independent.

It comes after The Australian revealed on Sunday how the lord mayor’s 20-year reign and age had been seriously called into question amid some claims that her ­entrenched rule was holding Sydney back rather than pushing forward.

On almost all of what the lord mayor spruiked as her wins for Australia’s global city, she has political opponents and residents who begged to differ, who alleged Ms Moore’s “paternalistic” governance was “her way or the highway” that ignored residents and said it “knew what was best”.

Mayor of Sydney City Clover Moore addresses council. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian

Ms Moore said she was “aligning the stars” for Oxford Street’s long-term success, including new cycleways and planning controls that encouraged creative space.

Residents have called her and her five-councillor team “zealots” while NSW senator Andrew Bragg, a resident of inner-city Paddington, said the lord mayor’s plans for Oxford Street were “misguided”.

“A cycleway in itself is not a bad idea, but on Oxford Street it is misguided,” Senator Bragg said, joining a chorus of those who said Ms Moore’s 20-year reign was not conducive to the city’s ­progress.

“Like everything she does, it (Oxford Street) is a mess and chaos,” Senator Bragg said.

“It is really unhealthy to have the same person in office for such a long period of time.

“She’s wrecked the city and had long enough … This Oxford St mess is an example of the city’s chaos.”

Ms Moore addresses council on Monday night. Picture: Jane Dempster

One council insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity, criticised Ms Moore’s “anti-car agenda”, suggesting the lord mayor would jump at the chance to replicate London’s much-­maligned Ultra Low Emission Zones “if she could”.

“They’ll be no parking (after the cycleway is finished),” said Darlinghurst resident Robyn Hall, who’s lived in the area for 40 years.

“(Her plans) are destroying us, destroying businesses.

“She makes herself out to look like Sydney’s saint, but (what she’s done) to our area is no good … how will our businesses exist if casual people can’t park their car anywhere?”

One of the lord mayor’s “long-term visions” is cutting the size of Moore Park Golf Course, which sits on crown land, to increase public parkland, something for which she campaigned and ­about which she has lobbied the state government.

The Minns government has committed to converting up to 20ha of the course, although it has divided the community, given its accessibility and popularity, and that part of its revenue is used for parkland upkeep.

Mayor of Sydney City Clover Moore addresses council. Picture: Jane Dempster

“The lord mayor wants to take away Sydney’s most accessible and affordable public golf course,” Save Moore Park Golf Course campaign leader Jared Kendler said.

“I’m not sure that (cutting the golf course) is an achievement … it couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Mr Kendler said it was instead an “attack on the less fortunate”, pointing to the course’s affordability for people in the city and surrounding suburbs.

Ms Moore has claimed that her council has delivered more affordable and diverse housing “than any other in Australia”.

“We continue to use every lever available to maximise the amount of affordable and diverse housing in our local area, she said.

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou applauded Ms Moore’s work in pedestrianising and revitalising George Street, but he said the council needed to do more in trans­forming the CBD’s underused properties for mixed commercial and residential use, saying it would help drive business and entice people to reside in the city’s heart.

While some of the levers to revitalise the city’s hospitality scene are in the hands of the state government, high-profile CBD-based restaurateur Luke Mangan welcomed recent improvements while calling on the council to go further.

“Walking through the city after 9pm is still pretty much a ghost town,” said the restaurateur, who runs Glass Brasserie at the Hilton and Luke’s Kitchen at the Kimpton Margot Hotel.

“We still have to be more open to a late-night economy and later closing times, and to more alfresco dining.

“The lord mayor is not too strong on that (alfresco dining).”

Mayoral candidate Ms Weldon said the city needed to accelerate the development of affordable housing, criticising also the council’s waste management, which is outsourced, and the delayed regeneration of Oxford Street.

Liberal mayoral candidate Mr Gannon said Ms Moore had failed to improve housing supply and affordability.

“It’s just not good enough and we have a lord mayor who blames the state government (when council can be doing more),” the Sydney councillor said.

“Sydney’s night-life remains dead … we (the council) need to better support businesses to see change.

“We used to have renowned night-life scene, but under Ms Moore’s watch, we’ve seen ­Oxford Street die.”