Clover takes heat over Barangaroo

City of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, has come under fire both inside and outside of Council over the Barangaroo development on Sydney’s harbour foreshore.

Speaking at Council on Tuesday, Greens Councillor, Shayne Mallard asked if there was transparent enough governance surrounding the development and how Council dealt with potential conflicts of interest.

“Staff must feel torn,” he said “because on one hand we have the Lord Mayor who is on the Barangaroo authority and on the other hand Council’s got a very strong position about it.”

He expressed concern that the developers were “hell bent” on going as fast as possible and questioned what it meant for the city.

“In two years time when there is potentially an inappropriate development, the City’s going to be viewed as a compliant partner in that process,” he said.

But City of Sydney Chief Executive Officer, Monica Barone, defended the process and told Council the City was doing everything it could to protect its interests.

“We don’t actually have a conflict at all,” she said.

“We go there and represent what you have told us to do… we are in there every single day trying to get those results you have asked us to get.”

The Mayor was also criticised at a protest meeting held last Tuesday by Barangaroo protection groups angered by various aspects of the development.

More than 600 people gathered at Town Hall to ask questions of a panel including Ms Moore and the Chairman of the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, Michael Collins.

While the crowd reserved the measure of their scorn for Mr Collins, who was booed repeatedly while answering questions and laughed at by the crowd when he mentioned former Prime Minister Paul Keating would be present on the design review committee, they also gave the Lord Mayor a chilly reception with several audience members telling City News they felt she had “sold out”.

Speaking at the rally, NSW Shadow Minister for Planning, Brad Hazzard called for more community transparency around the development.

“We are not convinced from the limited information shared by the Government with the public, or us, that there has been sufficient emphasis on public domain,” he said.

“We would therefore like to see much improved public consultation, an end to behind closed doors decision making and some serious public debate.”

The meeting finished with a motion to request an urgent Upper House inquiry into donations received by the Government and discussions surrounding the project’s approval.

By Simon Black