REDWatch Initial Reaction on the Master Plan separation of Metro Quarter from Waterloo Estate

Metro Quarter Fast tracked

A decision has been made to split the Metro Quarter off from the Waterloo Public Housing Estate Master Plan process and to fast track it to try and complete it by 2022. This is 2 years before the trains are due to arrive.

Community information sessions on the draft master plan for the Metro Quarter will be held on May 30 and 2 June so people can provide feedback on the proposal for the above and below ground aspects of the station.

The Visioning report and study summaries that cover both the Metro Quarter and the Estate were also expected today but the release has been delayed yet again. The Visioning Report covers the community engagement process in late 2017, which was to provide information to Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC), UrbanGrowth NSW Development Corporation (UGDC) and Transport for NSW (TfNSW) about what things residents wanted to keep change and add as part of the redevelopment. The release of the study summaries and subsequent study workshops were to increase people’s understanding of the issues before they engaged in feedback on site specific proposals.

The Waterloo Metro Quarter proposal for comment from 30 May

With the uncoupling of the Metro and Estate SSD proposals, Waterloo Metro will now fast track consultation on its proposal and leave LAHC to consult on its development options for the public housing estate a couple of months down the track. UrbanGrowth NSW and Sydney Metro will now directly lead the engagement on the Metro Quarter. Previously engagement for both sites was done through LAHC.

The change means that undertakings to the community, that they would have 6-8 weeks to digest the visioning and study reports before looking at planning proposals has been ignored. The fast track also means that, for the Metro Quarter, there will only be one informal opportunity for the community to input rather than, the two opportunities requested and agreed to, for the Waterloo Estate!

The flyer for the Metro Quarter engagement only refers to two community drop-in sessions, however, we are advised that there will be other discussions, through multilingual translators and with the Aboriginal community. We have however not seen or had input into a community engagement programme. Those making the decisions within TfNSW and UGDC to accelerate the process have not been in any discussions with the local groups set up to deal with government about the redevelopment. We hope that this will happen in the near future so that the engagement process is as robust as it needs to be to talk with the diversity of the Waterloo community.

The Metro Quarter engagement is described by TfNSW and UGDC as a “non-statutory” engagement to ensure that the plans that are lodged with the Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E) for assessment best reflect community feedback. It follows the visioning engagement led by Land and Housing Corporation last year. Statutory engagement, where submissions are sought from the public, will follow. We anticipate this will happen in November-December 2018.”

Community information sessions will be held at Redfern Town Hall, so that people can view the draft masterplan for the Metro Quarter and provide feedback. The sessions will be held on Wednesday 30 May, 5-8pm and Saturday 2 June, 11am-2pm. Information and a link to download the flyer can be found at www.ugdc.nsw.gov.au/growth-centres/redfern-to-waterloo/metro-quarter/. For more information contact info@ugdc.nsw.gov.au.