A light rail route from Parramatta Road to Central,would transform the traffic-choked,neglected precincts and would spark significant housing investment and population growth,according to theThree Roads:A Solution to Sydney’s Perfect Housing Storm report.
The report,by Business Sydney,Business Western Sydney and the Housing Industry Association,proposes bulldozing the decaying buildings,closed shops and used car yards of Parramatta Road in a “George Street-like urban renewal” and building 75,000 homes in mostly medium-density developments.
But it warns impediments to transforming Sydney’s arterial roads include the years-long planning approval process and local councils,which should be “encouraged to take a pro-development stance”.
Housing Industry Association NSW executive director David Bare said expanding light rail would attract investment in housing and reduce dependency on cars.
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said light rail and housing development would revive shopping strips on Parramatta Road by attracting pedestrians and providing homes close to jobs and existing infrastructure.
“At the moment,no one walks on[Parramatta Road],” he said. “It’s too noisy. It’s grubby. It doesn’t have any life.”
He called on the Minns government to strip planning powers from local councils and create an agency,similar to the now-defunct Redfern-Waterloo Authority,to guide development along the roads within the next five years.
“This is a perfect opportunity for the government to show leadership in this space,” he said.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said Parramatta Road was an extremely well-positioned land corridor and “ripe for revitalisation”,but did not respond to a question about creating a government agency to guide development.
“It’s complicated as it crosses six different councils,but it’s a part of our focus on increasing density in good locations,with already well-established public infrastructure and proximity to jobs,healthcare and schools,” he said.
“I will be looking at how we can work with multiple stakeholders to support more density along this corridor in the form of terraces,townhouses and apartment blocks.”
A spokesman for Transport Minister Jo Haylen,however,dismissed the idea of light rail and said the government’s focus was on building lines from Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park.
“There are no plans to extend light rail on Parramatta or Victoria Road,” he said.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne rejected the criticism of local councils,saying the state government was an impediment to giving busy thoroughfares such as Parramatta Road a makeover.
“I’ve lost count of how many times the revitalisation of Parramatta and Victoria Roads has been floated and talked about,” he said. “None of the ingredients needed to make it happen – kerbside parking,public transport and mixed development – have ever been delivered by state governments.”
The Inner West Council in August sought federal and state government support to transform.
Byrne said the Planning Department “moves at a glacial pace” and provided “little or no assistance or incentives” to councils to expedite rezoning.
He said planning bureaucrats had failed to make any headway on rezoning since 2016 when the Parramatta Road corridor was earmarked by the previous government for increased density.
“In my view,the planning system in Sydney is broken,and we need to start again with a new system that is less arcane and bureaucratic,” he said.
Balmain Greens MP Kobi Shetty has campaigned for a revitalised Victoria Road and offered support for extending light rail.
“Increasing the availability of mass transport options is a big part of getting cars off our roads and turning these high streets into spaces for the community,” she said.
Shetty said critical infrastructure such as public transport should be built before new housing.
Shetty,who is also an Inner West councillor,said she was concerned about the push to override local councils and communities.
“The voices of local communities are critical to make sure development is done well,” she said.
The City of Sydney in July revealed plans to in a bid to get more cars off the roads and encourage active and public transport.
Meanwhile,the,with Taverners Hill light rail station recording just 4960 Opal trips last month – 165 a day – amid community opposition to increased density.
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