The New South Wales Government has taken control of the Town Hall Square project in central Sydney, declaring the proposed public plaza to be a state significant development and removing it from the City of Sydney’s usual approval process.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said on Friday that an independent panel had advised the proposal warranted assessment at state level, following a review of information supplied by the council and the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
The project involves demolishing seven buildings between George and Pitt streets, opposite Sydney Town Hall, to create a 4,200-square-metre public square. The council has been acquiring properties for the scheme since the 1980s.
Scully said the proposal would be referred to the NSW Independent Planning Commission for a final decision if the City of Sydney submitted a state significant development application.
“This process will allow for a rigorous whole-of-government assessment by the department and provide an opportunity for individuals, the community, and other stakeholders to have their say on any development application before its determination by the Independent Planning Commission,” he said.
The minister intervened last month, citing the project’s prominent location and its potential impact on Sydney’s commercial centre. He also referred to the demolition of seven buildings and public expenditure on the scheme, which he said was at least $150 million.
The City of Sydney has since revised its estimate to $94 million. Its chief operating officer, Kim Woodbury, told the commission that any change in the planning pathway should not affect the project’s timetable or add to its costs.
“Any resulting delays or additional assessment requirements would increase project costs and defer the public benefits of the project, with associated financial impacts ultimately borne by City of Sydney ratepayers,” Woodbury said in a letter to the commission.
The council acquired the final building required for the square through compulsory acquisition on September 11 and submitted a development application this month. In February, councillors voted to speed up the demolition programme, with the ambition of completing the demolition and construction within about six years.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she was “shocked and disappointed” by what she described as an “extraordinary and highly unusual intervention in established planning processes”. She warned it could delay or block the project.
Moore has argued that additional public space is essential infrastructure rather than an optional addition. The council says the planned square would include eucalypts, moving water, seating and circular paving, and would host markets, festivals, concerts and live broadcasts of sporting events. It would also have an Aboriginal name.
“Any suggestion that council had a conflict of interest or isn’t managing approval appropriately is incorrect,” Moore said in September. “We remain confident in the merits of the proposal and see no planning reason why it should not ultimately be supported.”
Woolworths and Business NSW have opposed the scheme. Business NSW executive director Paul Nicolaou said last month that the government had “made the right call in putting the brakes on the City of Sydney’s plan to demolish seven buildings in the commercial heart of the CBD in favour of a controversial Town Hall square”.
