Meeting condemns Carrington Road Planning Proposal
Friday 20 October 2017
More than 500 local residents attended a public meeting last night at Marrickville Town Hall to express opposition to the enormous Carrington Road Planning Proposal in south Marrickville.
The meeting was convened by Inner West Council. Also in attendance were local Councillors, State and Federal members of parliament and community and action groups.
The Planning Proposal, from proponent Mirvac, seeks to rezone an entire precinct from General Industrial to High Density Residential including 2,600 new dwellings, and towers up to 35 storeys in height.
Mirvac refused to attend the meeting but will now be asked by Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne to join Planning Minister Anthony Roberts at a forum with residents and businesses, to explain the impacts of their proposal on the Marrickville community.
“The developer is trying to take advantage of the State Government’s Sydenham to Bankstown Strategy to carry out a mass rezoning that will have a destructive impact on our community,” Mayor Byrne said last night.
"By eliminating 1,400 jobs, including a whole cluster of creative industries, approval of this development would be a body blow to our local economy," he said.
"Plus, Marrickville and Illawarra Roads are home to one of Sydney's most vibrant and interesting retail and dining precincts. We are very worried that the shopping centre contained in Mirvac's proposal would suck the life out of Marrickville's main streets.”
State Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen announced that a NSW Labor Government would “tear up” the plans, and force developers back to abiding by local Councils’ LEPs.
She also announced that a Labor Government would put the Sydenham to Bankstown Strategy “through the shredder”.
Federal Member for Marrickville Anthony Albanese said he was “shocked” when he first saw the proposal, calling it “disastrous”, and saying “this vibrant and dynamic community of Marrickville will knock this proposal on the head”.
Kelsie Dadd from Save Marrickville South said the “massive overdevelopment of the Carrington Road area…is monstrous”.
“This new precinct is serviced by single lane roads that are already congested and lies on a floodplain - zoned industrial because of a history of repeated flood events,” she said.
“There are no plans for new schools, playing fields, community or open space, and no analysis of the impact of additional cars on our narrow streets with limited on-street parking. Marrickville is a heritage suburb with housing stock dating to the 1880s. Much of this heritage housing and our heritage streetscapes will be lost to ‘up-zoning’,” said Ms Dadd.
The Carrington Road Planning Proposal is a natural progression from the State Government’s revised draft Sydenham to Bankstown Strategy, which Council has called “inadequate”, “lacking transparency”, and “inconsistent with other, relevant strategic planning documents”.
Council will establish a Sydenham to Bankstown Committee to deal with issues arising from the State Government’s Metro Project and the Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal.
The Committee will comprise Inner West Councillors, members of relevant community groups, and be co-ordinated by two staff members with expertise in transport and planning.