He said the Department of Planning,Industry and Environment was preparing a strategy for the precinct and he expected this to be on his desk for review in early 2021."I hope to see the White Bay power station as the centrepiece of those plans,"Dr Stokes said.
The coal-fired power station,decommissioned in 1984,was built between 1912-17 to supply power to the Sydney railway and tramway system before being expanded to supply the Electricity Commission.
In 2016 it was considered as the site for a major tech hub,with Google as an anchor tenant,but the plans fell through. One of the sticking points was the lack of public transport to the area at the time.
In 2011 the power station was used as a location setting for some of Baz Luhrmann's film ofThe Great Gatsby.
The stoush started last week when Transport Minister Andrew Constance held a press conference near the power station to announce the beginning of construction of the Metro West. In response to aquestion about the power station's future,he said:"That site no one is able to do anything with so ultimately we've got to make some change. It's full of asbestos,it's a highly contaminated site,it really adds no value … but we've got to work through a process."