Metro Strategy and Redfern Waterloo

"City of Cities - A Plan for Sydney's Future" is the final component of the Metropolitan Strategy, the NSW Government's 25 year plan for Sydney. It was released on 4^th December 2005 and we are sure there will be much media coverage in the lead up to Christmas about what it proposes for shaping Sydney towards 2031.

The word Redfern occurs six times in the full document (four with Waterloo and twice when referring to the Railway Station). These references are not the sum total of what refers to Redfern Waterloo. There are a few other terms that you will need to know to work out how the strategy might relate to the future of Redfern Waterloo.

Redfern Waterloo is classed as part of “Global Sydney”. “Global Sydney” is made up of North Sydney, the Sydney CBD and a number of inner city precincts.

Redfern Waterloo is one of the “city knowledge precincts”. The metro Strategy states these “include the Redfern–Waterloo area and incorporate the Australian Technology Park, Sydney University, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, University of Technology Sydney and Sydney Institute of Technology” as “major activity precincts for education, research and technology based jobs.” [Page 296]

“Global Sydney” is at the centre of the “Global Economic Corridor” or Sydney’s “Global Arc”. This corridor refers to “the concentration of linked jobs and gateway infrastructure from Macquarie Park through Chatswood, St Leonards, North Sydney and the CBD to Sydney Airport and Port Botany” [Page 33]

Green Square is one of three planned Major Centres Locations for shopping and services in identified residential growth areas. The number of people employed there is planned to go from 5,827 in 2001 to 14,000 in 2013. [Page 95].

So when the Metro Strategy talks about “Global Sydney”, “city knowledge pecincts”, “Global Economic Corridor” and “Global Arc” it might also be talking about Redfern Waterloo!

The specific mentions of Redfern Waterloo were:

• In Sydney City and the global economic corridor, there are documented capacity constraints. The Government will ensure there are sufficient strategic sites available and infrastructure capacity to support the growth of these commercial office markets, particularly in North Sydney, Sydney City, East Darling Harbour, City South, Redfern and at rail stations in the City to Airport Corridor.[Page 103]
• The Government will expect agencies proposing renewal to assess the affordability of housing in an area proposed for renewal and adjoining areas. These agencies may be the local government that is proposing rezoning to higher densities, the Department of Housing, the Department of Planning in strategic centres, Landcom or other agencies such as the Redfern Waterloo Authority and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.[Page 146]
• As part of the Redfern Waterloo Authority’s work, Redfern station will be investigated for upgrading to provide better services for this redeveloping area.[Page 177]
• The CBD–Airport corridor already has a very high level of transport activity within it, with major flows of people and goods to and from the CBD, the Airport and Port Botany, all of which are expected to continue to grow significantly. Major growth in dwellings and employment in Redfern-Waterloo, Green Square and Mascot will add a further challenge to the transport task. A key challenge will be managing the impacts of transport investment needed to enhance the corridor’s economic efficiency on the communities within it. There has been much investment in road and rail systems serving north–south movements. As the corridor grows and changes, transport constraints increasingly will occur in systems serving east-west trips. Major transport works underway include bus priority measures in the CBD; Rail Clearways; arterial road improvements; and negotiations with Sydney Airport Corporation regarding transport to support its proposed expansion of the Airport.[Page 197]
• The city knowledge precincts which include the Redfern–Waterloo area and incorporate the Australian Technology Park, Sydney University, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, University of Technology Sydney and Sydney Institute of Technology, are major activity precincts for education, research and technology based jobs.[Page 296]

The "City of Cities - A Plan for Sydney's Future" can be read on the web, downloaded in sections, requested on CD or is also in printed form.

We have assembled all the current links to the various documents and also taken some extracts that relate to issues of concern to Redfern Waterloo for those that want a quick scan of some of the issues.