Kings Cross: where to from here?

BY CHRISTOPHER DAWSON

The plan, Sustainable Sydney 2030, is intrinsic to the future of the city.
This was the message of Councillor John McInerney.
It will also be the mantra of the Clover Moore Independent Team as they launch themselves into the September local government elections. To give substance to the visionary rhetoric, Cr McInerney addressed members of the Kings Cross Partnership for an early breakfast late last month about the ‘visionary thing’.
Cr McInerney, an architect and planner, who has been president of the Planning Institute of Australia and Manager of Planning for the City of Sydney as well as Melbourne, emphasised that Sydney ‘needed a vision to guide it forward’.
Once having mastered the recalcitrant sound system, he spoke of the underlying concept for Sydney, the City of Villages.
The plan responded to the challenges of global warming, rising oil prices, declining housing affordability and growth. It suggested moves to make Sydney more sustainable, vibrant and successful.
‘Every decision we make will be related through to 2030,’ he said. ‘We went to the people to research this plan. This is not too revolutionary but not often done here.’
The research found that 97 per cent of people in Sydney wanted action on climate change. They wanted an improved public transport system. They wanted an emphasis on light rail and integrated pedestrian and bike paths.
Cr McInerney said two forms of business typified Kings Cross: the daytime retail trade and then the nightlife.
He spoke of the new form of liquor outlets the Council wished to introduce to the city, small bars able to serve alcohol without serving food.
He referred to the small bars of Melbourne, often hidden down small laneways, and how these provided a different drinking culture.
‘I think Kings Cross would be an ideal location for small bars,’ he said. ‘I believe Kings Cross to be the best village in Sydney. It has great retail in the daytime and this will continue. It will get better and better.’
In the past there had been an ‘edgy feel’ but business had overcome this element.
Not only did he feel Kings Cross to be the best village in Sydney but also this was how it was being portrayed on web pages to the rest of the world.
He said Sydney was experiencing an increase in residential population in many areas. This was often at the expense of hotels and short-term residents. Those who lived in a particular area wanted to make it better.
Surveys showed that 25 per cent of those who lived in the city walked to work, eight times more than the average for the rest of Sydney. A further 33 per cent took public transport.
‘I am optimistic for the future,’ he said.
Cr McInerney said the planning for the upgrade of Fitzroy Gardens and Lawrence Hargrave Reserve would begin on Tuesday July 1, with a community workshop at Rex Centre, Kings Cross. This was a community priority in consultations for the City East Local Plan. He said there would be an upgrade to the El Alamein Fountain and speculated about the future of the Kings Cross Car Park (there would be no loss of parking spaces) and the location of the Kings Cross Police Station.
He was looking for an opportunity to widen the park and said the Council was open to all sorts of ideas.