Revised plan for Blackwattle Bay revealed after fierce backlash

About 1200 units in towers up to 35 storeys will be built on the old Sydney Fish Market site at Blackwattle Bay under revised plans the NSW government prepared in response to fierce backlash against an earlier proposal.

The government’s development arm,Infrastructure NSW,on Thursday published an updated plan to redevelop the site of the fish market – which will eventually be shifted to a $750 million building at the head of the bay.

The NSW government has released a revised proposal for the Blackwattle Bay redevelopment.

The NSW government has released a revised proposal for the Blackwattle Bay redevelopment.Infrastructure NSW

The original proposal had triggered widespread opposition from the City of Sydney council,local MPs and residents of the Pyrmont peninsula. The government has earmarked Pyrmont for more intensive development.

Under the updated plans,the site will feature buildings of six-to-35 storeys,30,000 square metres of green space – including a new park at Bank Street – and a 20-metre wide foreshore walk that will link Glebe and Pyrmont.

Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes said the government had responded to the community’s feedback on the earlier proposal by reducing building heights,doubling the width of the promenade,and adding open space.

“This vision,alongside the construction of the new Sydney Fish Market,will completely transform Blackwattle Bay from a patchwork of industrial uses to a stunning stretch of Sydney Harbour open to the public for the first time in 150 years,” Stokes said.

Balmain Greens MP Jamie Parker welcomed the government’s decision to remove the “very worst parts” of its original plan for the site,but said it remained “a fundamentally bad proposal”.

“It exemplifies this government’s focus on using public land to make windfall real estate deals rather than seeing it as an opportunity for inclusive and strategic city building.”

The initial plan had included 1500 apartments in 12 towers up to 45 storeys,with smaller buildings of four to eight storeys,a narrow waterfront promenade,and public space beside the Western Distributor motorway.

In its submission on the proposal,the City of Sydney council described the plans as “gross overdevelopment”,raising concerns about the scale of the development,lack of sunlight,and effects of pollution on residents.

The revised plans include a wider promenade,which will link waterfront walkways in Glebe and Pyrmont.

The revised plans include a wider promenade,which will link waterfront walkways in Glebe and Pyrmont.Infrastructure NSW

The councilprepared a design review,which recommended fewer,shorter towers and a larger foreshore park. The council said the 10-metre foreshore promenade should be expanded to 30 metres.

In its response to more than 2400 submissions,Infrastructure NSW said lowering the five towers by as much as 21.5 metres had reduced the density of the precinct by 15 per cent – or 34,500 square metres in gross floor area.

This meant the development would comprise 378 fewer homes for about 840 fewer residents.

City of Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said the council would closely scrutinise the updated plans given its previous concerns the development would “recast the whole area as an imposing shadowland”.

The revised plans for the precinct will comprise 76 per cent commercial and 24 per cent residential development.

The revised plans for the precinct will comprise 76 per cent commercial and 24 per cent residential development.Infrastructure NSW

“Minor tweaks to the initial plan won’t adequately address the community’s concerns about a wall of residential development located hard up against the noisy,polluted motorway,overshadowing existing apartments and public spaces,” Moore said.

Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich said he was concerned the government’s response “only scratches the surface of community concerns”,and he would urge it to embrace the suggestions in the council’s design review.

“More work is needed to deliver a world-class precinct that delivers for the community,not just property developers. We must not let greed continue to destroy our iconic harbour,” Greenwich said.

Stokes said the site’s proximity to the light rail line and future Metro station made it a logical area for more residential and commercial development. He said the updated plans would create 1200 homes and 5600 jobs.

The department will prepare a final assessment report for Planning Minister Anthony Roberts,who will decide the proposal to rezone the site.

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Megan Gorrey is the Urban Affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.

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