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PYRMONT’S FUTURE PROSPERITY TAKES SHAPE

The final strategy for Pyrmont and Ultimo envisages a global entertainment and cultural hub with enhanced streetscapes, parklands and more open space.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said the final Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy provides more certainty and clarity regarding the future of the CBD’s western gateway.
“We’ve listened to community and business feedback and have adapted the plan so that Pyrmont remains a prosperous and unique part of Sydney,” Mr Stokes said.
“Striking a balance in planning is never easy and the unique geography and history of Pyrmont’s settlement pattern provided a particular challenge. Our fundamental task was to encourage economic development while enlivening the peninsula, boosting jobs and providing for more quality public open spaces for everyone to enjoy.
“Our plan will unlock public access to Sydney’s foreshore from Blackwattle Bay to Woollomooloo Bay since the 1800s.
“The pandemic has shown us the importance of public space and this strategy provides hectares more open space, uninterrupted foreshore and plenty of community infrastructure to support new and existing development.”
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the Place Strategy confirmed the importance of the peninsula as a hub for economic growth.
“Pyrmont is the real gem of Sydney and for too long its potential has been overlooked and underutilised,” Mr Perrottet said.
“This strategy will boost the economy and at the same time ensure we improve the area and build a gateway from the western harbour, through Barangaroo and the CBD, all the way to the Opera House.”
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment will now prepare master plans for the Pyrmont Peninsula’s seven sub-precincts – Pirrama, Darling Island, Blackwattle Bay, Tumbalong Park, Wentworth Park, Pyrmont Village and Ultimo.
Details in the final strategy include:
Blackwattle Bay

A new active transport link from Blackwattle Bay to the Fish Market Light Rail Station
Building heights limited to 120m – 156m
‘Low-line’ beneath the Anzac Bridge pylons and Western Distributor overpass, including a ribbon of public, recreational space

Wentworth Park

Facilitate the return of the Wentworth Park greyhound track land and the temporary pop up school once their terms expire as newly activated, publicly accessible open space as part of a larger and enhanced parkland
A working group with government agencies and stakeholders to be established to assist in identifying a suitable alternate site for greyhound racing

Harbourside

Publicly accessible open space on rooftop areas
Protection of sunlight on the harbour foreshore
Building heights below 170m

The Star

A 110m tower on the northern end, on the condition it is a six-star hotel (maximum height of 60 metres to remain in place for any other development type)
Tower on southern end of site maximum 140m
Improved public spaces ie landscaping, increase in tree canopy
Reduced street parking and relocated tourist bus lay overs on site
Fund upgrades in surrounding public spaces, including improved landscaping, additional greenery, increase in tree canopy and upgrade to public seating and congregation spaces

More details are available in the final Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy is available at: www.planning.nsw.gov.au/pyrmontpeninsula

NEW METRO STATION FOR PYRMONT

The NSW Government will build a new metro railway station at Pyrmont as part of the mega Sydney Metro West project, greatly enhancing plans to revitalise the inner city precinct to encourage jobs, investment and economic growth.
Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said the new station will deliver major benefits to the Pyrmont community and create an unparalleled opportunity to support the Government’s plans to transform the suburb.
“This is so much more than somewhere to catch a train,” Mr Constance said.
“It will become the centre of the community and the western gateway to the Sydney CBD providing not only world-class transport options but opportunities to support new jobs and homes.
“Modelling also predicts this will be one of the busiest stations on the Sydney Metro West line and will provide customers with more choice.”
A Sydney Metro station at Pyrmont will:

Create 500 direct and 1700 indirect jobs.
Ease congestion at key CBD railway stations like Central and Town Hall.
Relieve demand on the Dulwich Hill Light Rail Line by about 10 per cent.
Serve major events and entertainment activities, including those around Darling Harbour and the Sydney International Convention Centre.
Support Pyrmont as a diverse, desirable, vibrant and accessible inner urban precinct.
Provide customers with about a 26-minute saving between Parramatta and Pyrmont, with the trip taking just 18 minutes.

A value share contribution mechanism will be applied to the Pyrmont Peninsula once the Sydney Metro West project opens.
It will require some commercial property owners, other than small businesses, that benefit from increased land values associated with the new station to make an annual contribution to offset the cost of building the station.
A one-off Transport Special Infrastructure Contribution will also be applied to certain new developments in the Pyrmont Peninsula in advance of the station opening.
The Pyrmont metro station location is subject to further planning and design work.
Sydney Metro has worked with the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and other stakeholders to ensure the plans for a metro station at Pyrmont are consistent with the planning work being undertaken to unlock innovation and investment in the Pyrmont Peninsula.
The Metro project forms part of the NSW Government’s record $107 billion infrastructure pipeline, a key part of the COVID Recovery Plan.

WORLD-CLASS NEW UNIVERSITY CAMPUS AT PARRAMATTA/WESTMEAD

A world-class multi-disciplinary university campus will be able to be delivered within the Westmead Health and Innovation District with the signing of a framework agreement between the NSW Government and the University of Sydney.
The new University campus will build on the District’s role as one of the largest health, education, research and training precincts in Australia.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the agreement was an important step for the long-term future of the Westmead Health and Innovation District.
“A globally recognised University campus in the Central River City at the core of the Westmead Health and Innovation District will drive innovation and catalyse future growth, ensuring we become a world leader in lifelong education and research partnerships that save lives and cure diseases,” Mr Ayres said.
Mr Ayres said over the next 30 years, the NSW Government’s vision for the District is expected to create more than 20,000 new jobs and contribute an additional $2.8 billion of economic output per year to the NSW economy.
“Having the University at the core of the Westmead Health and Innovation District will help transform the district into a powerhouse of invention, creativity, and commercialisation, and home to world-leading enterprises, start-ups, researchers and students,” Mr Ayres said.
Mr Ayres paid tribute to the vision of the outgoing Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sydney, Dr Michael Spence AC, to expand the University’s presence in Western Sydney over coming decades, contributing to the economic, social, cultural and intellectual growth of the area and the broader Sydney metropolis.
Dr Spence, who will become President and Provost of University College London in January 2021, said he was delighted the University of Sydney and NSW Government had agreed to develop a shared vision for a mixed-use University campus at Parramatta/Westmead.
“This once-in-a-century opportunity in Western Sydney would build on our 40-year history at Westmead and create a genuinely multidisciplinary major campus that enables new partnership and innovation opportunities for all of Sydney,” Dr Spence said.
“We are committed to offering students in Western Sydney more opportunity to study and pursue research with our incredible academics to help solve some of the world’s most challenging problems.”
Pending final agreement around the size and timings of the campus development, the University hopes to attract more than 25,000 students and 2,500 staff by 2055 and provide affordable student and staff accommodation.
Minister for Health and Medical Research Brad Hazzard said the NSW Government and the University of Sydney are committed to working together as health will continue to be a strong focus throughout Westmead and the future of the site.
“Westmead Health and Innovation District will continue to deliver world-class health services for the communities of Western Sydney by developing new and innovative models of health care.”
Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education and Member for Parramatta Geoff Lee said the agreement was a win for Parramatta and Western Sydney.
“Westmead is already the largest biomedical precinct in Australia. The commitment by University of Sydney today will transform the precinct by offering a comprehensive suite of university courses beyond health studies. Parramatta City has established itself to be the education capital of Western Sydney,” he said.
The agreement marks the next step in exclusive negotiations between Government and the University which commenced in November 2018. It confirms the University of Sydney as the ‘educational anchor’ for the Government’s planned innovation district, based on the University’s leading status as a top-100 global university. It also confirms a site for the new campus in Parramatta North adjacent to the Westmead hospitals, and a process for ongoing engagement once land for the proposed campus becomes available for development.
For more information please visit here.

Man charged over alleged aggravated break and enter – Shortland

A man will face court today charged over an alleged aggravated break and enter in Newcastle at the weekend.
About 3am on Sunday (6 December 2020), an 84-year-old woman was asleep at a home on Marsden Street, Shortland, when she was woken by an unknown man standing in her room.
The man spoke to the elderly woman before she called to family members for assistance and the man left the home.
The elderly woman wasn’t injured.
Later that morning, police were called and officers from Newcastle City Police District commenced an investigation.
Following extensive inquiries, police attended a separate home on Marsden Street and arrested a 19-year-old man on Wednesday (9 December 2020)
He was taken to Waratah Police Station and charged with aggravated break and enter commit serious indictable offence with people there.
He was refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court yesterday (Thursday 10 December), where he was formally bail refused to reappear at the same court today (Friday 11 December 2020).

Anti-money laundering laws

The Government and Labor have again wasted an opportunity to include real estate agents, accountants and lawyers subject to mandatory reporting of money laundering.
“We have been waiting 14 years for this badly needed reform,” Greens Economic Justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“Dirty money is flooding Australia’s property market, helping to push house prices even higher, and making owning a home even more difficult for too many Australians.”
“The Greens’ amendment would have forced the Government to introduce legislation to include real estate agents, accountants and lawyers in the mandatory reporting scheme.”
“Such measures have been introduced in all but six countries around the world and have been promised since 2006.”
“Labor promised this reform before the last election, but they have squibbed it at the first hurdle.”
“This is a huge wasted opportunity to get serious about tackling dirty money in Australia.”
“The Greens’ amendment did not specify how real estate agents, accountants and lawyers should be regulated, just that the government should introduce legislation that would do so.”
“This was so as to give the government scope to design laws to avoid any unintended consequences including jeopardising client legal privilege.”

$11 million to reduce rates of heartbreaking stillbirths

The Morrison Government will provide $11 million to fast track a new national plan to reduce the number of stillbirths, ensuring families affected get the respectful bereavement care they need.
Tragically, there are six stillbirths each day in Australia. That means suffering and loss for more than 2,000 families every year.
Such loss is particularly hard as mothers and fathers prepare to welcome a new life into their families. A time of joy is replaced with heartbreak.
Despite increasing evidence that many stillbirths can be prevented, there has been little change in the stillbirth rate in Australia over the past two decades.
The Morrison Government’s National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan’s primary goal is to reduce stillbirths by 20 per cent or more over the next five years. The plan has a 10-year timeframe and includes further short, medium and long-term actions.
To change these sobering statistics, over the next four years the Australian Government will provide:

$4 million to support stillbirth education and awareness initiatives, particularly for groups at higher risk of stillbirth
$2.1 million to adapt the Safer Baby Bundle program for those priority populations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
$0.5 million to develop new Clinical Care Standards and update existing clinical care guidelines relating to stillbirth
$0.5 million for data improvement and activities to enable long-term research on stillbirth
$1.7 million to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for the Plan
$1 million for state and territory governments to take immediate steps to increase the uptake of stillbirth autopsies and investigations
$1 million through a National Health & Medical Research Council grant to Monash University to conduct a trial of a wearable, low-cost device to monitor fetal movements to prevent stillbirths.

The plan was informed by consultation with bereaved parents, new parents, and groups at increased risk of stillbirth, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, migrant, refugee and rural and remote communities.
Further, the plan has been developed in collaboration with state and territory governments, and the hardworking organisations that are helping to reduce stillbirths and provide high quality support for Australian families impacted by stillbirth.
These include the Stillbirth Centre for Research Excellence, Red Nose (including Sands), Still Aware and Stillbirth Foundation Australia.
This work builds on the Morrison Government’s commitment to supporting maternal and perinatal health, which includes an investment of $88.4 million over seven years from 2018‑19 in perinatal services and support.
The Commonwealth will continue to lead work to implement the Plan and looks forward to ongoing collaboration on activities that will ultimately save lives and prevent other families from experiencing this heartbreak.
I am also pleased to announce that the Commonwealth Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer will play a key role in overseeing the implementation of actions that have been agreed under this Plan.
The National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan is available on the Department of Health website at www.health.gov.au/maternity.

Development supports shared funding of local community infrastructure

More than $10 million will be invested into priority community projects throughout the remainder of this financial year as contributions continue to flow from the city’s development boom.
Council this week adopted the updated the 7.12 Local Infrastructure Contributions Plan, which allows for the collection of development levies across the City and nominates how they will be spent.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the updated Contributions Plan will allow the City of Newcastle to invest development contributions back into the community through new and upgraded social infrastructure, which is essential for the health, well-being and economic prosperity of communities and the liveability of our City.
“Newcastle’s unprecedented development boom is not only helping to transform the city on the back of our progressive, future-focussed vision, it’s also contributing to the vital infrastructure needed to support our growing population,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Our population is forecast to increase by 20% to 200,000 residents by 2041, which in turn requires the provision of additional public facilities to meet increasing demand over time.”
Cr Nelmes said the list of projects to be funded had been updated in line with the City’s adopted capital works budget priorities and includes projects such as the next stages of Bathers Way, the delivery of the National Park Plan of Management, local centre upgrades in Stockton, Wallsend and Shortland, and the Throsby Creek shared pathway.
“This Contributions Plan provides an essential mechanism through which we can collect funds from approved developments to provide for new or enhanced community infrastructure such as roads, shared paths and cycleways, parks, playgrounds and many other public places to support our City,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Funding mechanisms such as this support our capital works program, which plays a major role in creating jobs and increasing the economic output of the local area, which has become even more important in the wake of COVID-19.”
City of Newcastle approved 1,171 development applications in 2020 with a value of $568 million across the city.

HORNSBY HOSPITAL’S PHARMACY GOES ROBOTIC

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital has become the first public hospital in NSW with a robotic pharmacy, with the $265 million Stage 2 redevelopment on track for completion next year.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard, along with Member for Hornsby Matt Kean, saw the robotic dispensing and stocktaking system in motion today and toured the newly opened 12-bed Intensive Care Unit.
“The $265 million Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital Stage 2 redevelopment will provide a superior experience for patients, carers, staff and visitors, with a larger emergency department and an Intensive Care Unit about three times the size of the previous one,” Mr Hazzard said.
“The new, state-of-the-art pharmacy is also more than double in size and, thanks to its advanced robotics, can select and dispense medications and conduct stocktakes faster, reducing errors and wastage and allowing pharmacists to spend more time with patients.”
Mr Kean said the new Intensive Care Unit opened less than a month ago and is a modern, purpose-built department that includes single patient rooms, with large observation windows and a large staff station.
“This new Intensive Care Unit brings Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital into the 21^st century by ensuring the building matches the superior care the clinicians deliver. There is vast space for clinicians to provide outstanding care, with patients’ needs at the centre of its design,” Mr Kean said.
“There is more natural light which is important for the patient’s recovery, more privacy for patient care and family discussions and every room can be an isolation room if required, meaning better infection control.”
Other departments to have opened as part of the redevelopment include Outpatients, Paediatrics and Medical Imaging.
The $265 million Stage 2 redevelopment will deliver a new Clinical Services Building, due for completion next year, and a refurbished and expanded Emergency Department.
The Clinical Services Building will include:

A combined Intensive Care and High Dependency Unit;
Combined Respiratory/Cardiac and Coronary Care beds co-located with a Cardiac Investigations Unit;
Ambulatory Care Centre (Outpatients Department);
Medical Imaging;
Paediatrics;
Medical Assessment Unit;
Inpatients Units (including general medicine, rehabilitation, stroke and dementia/delirium beds);
Co-located education space with The University of Sydney
Helipad

The redevelopment will also deliver a refurbished and expanded Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre, new day chemotherapy unit and renal dialysis unit for the first time at Hornsby, expansion of oral health services and integration of community health services.

Juukan Gorge Committee releases multiparty majority report

The Joint Standing Committee on the Northern Australia Inquiry into Juukan Gorge have today released a multiparty majority interim report with a range of recommendations including that Rio Tinto negotiate a restitution package for the destruction of the Juukan rock shelters with the traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples (PKKP) and ensure full reconstruction of the Junkanoo rock shelters.
“There is multiparty support for strong reforms within the mining industry and state and federal legislation, Senator Siewert said.
Mining companies, State Governments and the Federal Government are on notice. The world is watching. They cannot allow the wanton destruction of First Nations cultural heritage any longer.
This inquiry has laid bare the hypocrisy from mining companies who talk about investing in First Nations communities when they have required Traditional owners to sign gag clauses in agreements with them.
In fact royalties in some cases are having to be spent on lawyers, surveys and administration dealing with mining companies and in worst cases royalties are being withheld from them.
This is not a level playing field. Traditional Owners are negotiating with multinational companies who impose ‘gag’ clauses, which prevent them from taking legal action or voicing their concerns to prevent the destruction of heritage.
It is alarming that many heritage sites have been de-registered since 2011 and we don’t even know where they are or if they are destroyed or if there are plans to destroy them.
The Committee has recommended that Western Australian and Commonwealth governments establish a truth-telling project.
The McGowan Government is missing in action on this, this happened under their watch and under legislation that they well knew to be inadequate.
The Western Australian Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 made the destruction of the site legal and offered no avenue to protect it even when its archaeological significance had been revealed.
The legal framework for the protection of Aboriginal heritage in Western Australia and at the Federal level is completely inadequate.
In too many cases state and territory governments have a financial interest in facilitating mining and other developments.
Evidence received by the Committee highlights the inadequacy of current Commonwealth protections under both the ATSIHP and the EPBC Act.
This cannot happen again, not in WA not anywhere.
This is an interim report. The committee still has work to do. The committee has strongly recommended an urgent moratorium on the consideration and approval of new section 18 applications until the new legislation is passed, unless it can be established and verified that there is current, verifiable, free, prior and informed consent obtained from Traditional Owners.
The report can be found here.

Application for sand source exploration licence a step closer to returning a sandy beach to Stockton

City of Newcastle welcomes the NSW Government’s move to apply for an offshore exploration licence that will allow for the investigation of a suitable sand source to put sand back on the beach at Stockton.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro chaired a Stockton Beach Taskforce meeting at City of Newcastle’s Administration Centre today and discussed how the exploration licence would allow for the examination a potential source of sand needed to remediate Stockton Beach.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said Deputy Premier Barilaro’s announcement was a significant win for the Stockton community, with the NSW Government prioritising a viable solution to coastal erosion.
“If approved, the licence will allow exploration work to be carried out by geologists to determine if an identified source of sand off the coast of Stockton is suitable,” Cr Nelmes said.
“The NSW Government’s commitment to identifying a suitable sand source is meaningful progress toward ensuring our community can once again enjoy the amenity of a sandy beach, where coastal assets are protected.
“Since the Stockton Taskforce had its inaugural meeting in June we have seen a genuine and cooperative approach to reaching a solution to ongoing coastal erosion.
“The Taskforce has cut red tape and overcome regulatory hurdles across various government departments to enable a path to source suitable sand to replenish the beach.
“The Stockton Coastal Management Program was informed by our community and has mass sand nourishment as its cornerstone, so this news shows how collaboration between Local and State Government can achieve positive outcomes for the environment and community.”
“I thank the Deputy Premier for his leadership in resolving the complex erosion issues at Stockton with both short and long-term solutions.
The Taskforce meeting was also informed that City of Newcastle has completed the first comprehensive scientific study of how sand moves in and around the Stockton Bight.
The Stockton Bight Sand Movement Study will contribute to the 2021 review of the Stockton Coastal Management Program, which is being updated to include the area north of Meredith Street to the Local Government Boundary. Previous studies have been confined to the southern section of the Bight.
This investigation fills an important missing piece in understanding the beach’s complex coastal processes.
Cr Nelmes said the Sand Movement Study is key to developing management actions that complement the mass sand nourishment strategy for Stockton Beach.
“The study provides City of Newcastle and Stockton Bight’s various landholders with the critical information and understanding needed to make evidence-based decisions on coastal management options for the area to the north of Meredith Street,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Next year City of Newcastle, in consultation with stakeholders, will update the Stockton CMP to include coastal management options for the area of the beach north of Meredith Street to the Port Stephens Local Government Area boundary.
“The Stockton CMP 2021 key actions will complement the mass sand nourishment proposed for Stockton Beach and will be assessed in terms of their economic and technical feasibility, to obtain agreement on a suitable strategy from all affected northern landholders.
“The actions outlined in the Stockton Coastal Management Program 2020 will not change and will be incorporated into the expanded 2021 Stockton CMP.
“The work completed to date, in partnership with the community, has determined what we need to do now and in the long-term to ensure we can manage Stockton Beach for future generations.
“We will continue to work with the NSW Government to deliver a mechanism to get sand onto Stockton Beach.”
City of Newcastle Manager of Assets and Projects Joanne Rigby said the study provides the first full analysis of the Bight’s ‘sand budget’, which maps historical sand volume changes from Nobbys Headland to Birubi Headland to show the rates and direction of sand movement.
“This is essential to assessing how each potential coastal management option will impact the behaviour of the entire Bight,” Ms Rigby said.
“The study confirms that the natural pattern of erosion experienced by Stockton Beach is exacerbated by the Newcastle Harbour breakwaters and navigational channel, which combine to create a physical barrier to natural sand movement.
“Presently an average of 34,000 cubic metres per year is restored to Stockton Beach by the dredging of sand from the entrance channel and 36,500 cubic metres per year is accumulated at Nobbys.
“The Port of Newcastle’s David Allan dredge picks sand up in the harbour entrance and deposits it offshore from Stockton Beach.
“Currently the rate of loss along the southern section of the Beach is estimated at 112,000 cubic metres per year. Prior to the formalisation of river entrance, it is estimated that 100,000 cubic metres of sand passed Nobbys Headland.
“As a result, the overall northerly loss of sand is a key management consideration of the Stockton CMP.”
City of Newcastle will work with landowners and the community in the new year regarding management actions. The Stockton Sand Movement Study can be accessed here.