Councillors not hospitable to Barangaroo hotel

Councillors Shayne Mallard and Chris Harris represent different parties but both agree there are serious issues with the proposed Barangaroo development.

Both criticised the proposal’s plan to build a hotel out over the harbour, Cr Mallard labelling it an intrusion and Cr Harris questioning how “public” the pier it sat on would be.

Cr Harris said the NSW Government was setting a dangerous precedent with the proposal.

“They’re reclaiming half a hectare of the harbour,” he said.

“They’re calling it a public pier … the reality is that’s highly misleading … what they’re building it for is so that they can build a 200 metre private hotel on it.

“What’s to stop a future Premier from putting a public pier as they’ve called it, and another 200 metre hotel on the end of Pyrmont Point?

“It’s a disgraceful way to treat what is everybody’s harbour.”

Cr Mallard agreed the hotel would be an intrusion into the harbour, adding that the plan now had no relevance to the original winning design.

He said Cr Harris’ concern about the pier being fully accessible to the public was a valid one.

“I maintain 100 percent circulation around the entire structure if it’s going to be a public pier,” he said.

Cr Mallard also questioned the State Government’s choice of a single developer.

“I’m concerned that one developer regularly favoured by the Labor Party has got the entire site,” he said.

“One [reason] is transparency, the other is regarding some modulation and variation in design … I’m concerned we’ll get a monolith of buildings like Green Square where Meriton built it all.”

Barangaroo is classified as a 3A development, meaning planning approvals are the jurisdiction of the Office of the Planning Minister rather than Council.

But Cr Mallard said Lord Mayor Clover Moore had input as part of the Barangaroo Implementation Authority Board.

“She’s been involved in this from day one … I’d be interested to know what say she’s had in the outcomes,” he said.

“I hope Clover hasn’t been compromised for being on that board.”

Labor Councillor Meredith Burgmann said she was unconcerned about the approval being out of Council’s hands.

“It’s … crazy to think that Local Government is somehow better equipped to deal with important decisions than the State Government,” she said.

“I believe that the CBD belongs to everybody in New South Wales … everyone who comes in here to enjoy the harbour and the city … it does not just belong to the people in the 20 suburbs surrounding the CBD who get to vote for the City of Sydney Councillors.

“Barangaroo is part of what is our CBD going to look like, which is a different issue to amenity for people in the inner-city suburbs.”

In regard to the issue of public access for the proposed Wharf, Cr Burgmann said she believed there would be public access and would be “shocked and horrified” if that weren’t the case.

She said she was pleased an internationally recognised architect had been assigned to the project, and said her only concern was the height of the hotel.