Clarity sought over Marrickville Metro

With a Coalition government a near-inevitability, the Greens have made one final pre-election plea to Opposition planning spokesperson Brad Hazzard, asking him to commit to rejecting the Part 3A application for the expansion of the Marrickville Metro.

Their call coincided with a local protest rally on March 22, where Greens MLC David Shoebridge described the Metro as a “perfect test case” to determine how serious Barry O’Farrell and the Coalition were about their commitment to repeal the controversial planning clause.

“The only reason the expansion of Marrickville Metro hasn’t been shelved already is that AMP Capital have sidestepped the local council and the community to directly petition the Minister for Planning,” said Greens candidate for Marrickville, Fiona Byrne.

“Part 3A was supposed to be used for ‘state significant developments’. I fail to see how doubling the size of a local shopping centre can be considered a state significant issue.

“The Liberal Party says they will abolish Part 3A, but they haven’t said when, or what they’ll replace it with. The only promise from the Coalition is an 18-month review, in which time all Part 3A development applications, like the Marrickville Metro, will still be on the table.”

The Independent contacted Opposition planning spokesman Brad Hazzard’s office for a reply but he had not responded by the time of publication.

The Metro expansion project has been controversial, with the site already being reduced 22 per cent in size after the previous proposal received nearly 550 submissions from aggrieved locals citing concerns over traffic, amenity, and the continued viability of the local shopping strips.

Marrickville Metro has consistently downplayed the issue of traffic, suggesting that while there may be an increase in the number of cars going to and from the centre, it would not lead to an increase in the total volume of vehicles on Victoria Road.