New green space key in Labor’s Sydney plan

BY CHRISTOPHER HARRIS

Labor has a bold plan to increase the green space in the City of Sydney but as much as six per cent because “we desperately need places for people to play”.

Labor Councillor Linda Scott told City Hub that the council needed to do more to make sure the needs of residents as well as workers were met in the City.

She said too little had been done in the previous twelve years to ensure that the City had adequate green space.

Within the City of Sydney LGA, there are 14 sporting fields to accommodate approximately 200,000 people.

Scott said businesses in the CBD were crying out for more sporting fields.

“Business is telling us they don’t have anywhere for their staff to play at lunchtime, we need ovals just as much in the inner city as we do in Newtown, Redfern and Roseberry,” she said.

Scott said that Labor’s target of 20 per cent by 2025 would ensure that Sydney remained a great place to live and work into the future.

“There are no free sporting fields this summer, there are no places to play sport, so we’re committing to this green space target to ensure the creation of green space and specifically the creation of new sporting fields.”

Exactly how one goes about creating more green space is another question. According to Scott, the City needs to advocate for it more when negotiating big developments in the City.

“We can see developments where we have ovals on the roof. We don’t just have to use the ground space.”

She said school ovals and parks could be used more efficient.

“We can look to better sharing and collaborative arrangements with existing ovals, like the ovals in our primary schools or high schools,” she said.