Harold Park consultation process kicks off
By the City’s own admission, the thinking was that the night might be a bit quiet. But in fact, the first community consultation workshop for Glebe’s Harold Park Paceway site last Tuesday attracted a bumper crowd of over 100 area residents from surrounding Glebe, Annandale and Forest Lodge, keen to have their input on the site’s impending redevelopment.
The site is currently owned by the NSW Harness Racing Club, but they have made clear their intention to sell the Paceway and accompanying Rozelle Tram Depot to fund their activities elsewhere. In July, Planning Minister Kristina Keneally determined that the City of Sydney and the Central Sydney Planning Committee (CSPC) develop new planning controls to guide any future uses of the site, a process which is currently underway.
“The Harold Park site is of significant value to the community and includes important heritage items and links to surrounding parks,” said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore. “The challenge ahead of us is to develop planning controls that balance opportunities for public benefit with the site owner’s expectations of financial returns.”
The City was keen to stress that no decisions have been taken on uses for the site, although it is expected that given its size, multiple uses will be allocated. The Paceway is currently zoned as open space, but has a range of requirements attached, making it a different prospect to the open space of an area such as Jubilee Park.
The consultation asked three key questions of residents to help guide the planning process going forward. These included determining the most important issues to be considered when planning for the site’s renewal; possible uses for the site; and how its redevelopment could contribute to the City’s ‘Sustainable Sydney 2030’ strategy.
Amongst the recurring themes to emerge from the evening were concerns over the potential of increased traffic, and requests that the redevelopment plan incorporate as much open space as possible. Restricting the density of any housing developments on the site was also cited as a key focus.
Following the completion of technical studies, a second workshop is scheduled for December 2. The City will then prepare a draft Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP) for the site and this will be reported to Council and the CSPC for public exhibition in mid-year, with final controls set to be approved in September.
The NSW Minister for Planning will have the final sign-off on the new LEP for the Harold Park site.
