Paving the future for Parramatta Road

Homebush might be the White Elephant of Sydney, but for sheer neglect, not much in this fair city beats Parramatta Road.

This major transport corridor, stumbling under the constant burden of cars, trucks, smog and noise, represents a turn-off in more than the literal sense. Yet under the State Government’s Metropolitan Strategy, which is currently undergoing review, the entire Parramatta Road corridor is envisaged to support some 150,000 new dwellings by 2031, with the inner west accounting for some 30,000 new dwellings and 10,000 new jobs.

What will such an outcome look like?

Newly-elected Mayor of Marrickville and Greens candidate for the state seat of Marrickville in March, Fiona Byrne, said there had been a variety of studies into the future of Parramatta Road over the past five years. “Most of those have talked about increasing residential density; they vaguely talked about the possibility of increasing buses and light rail – but really, a lot of the plans are still dependent on car usage along Parramatta Road,” she said.

“What they’re really talking about is massive increases of residential, with commercial all through the bottom – 10, 12, 15 storeys along Parramatta Road. The Greens look for development on a human scale, active street frontages – but to do that on Parramatta Road, you need to get cars off the road, and that requires an integrated transport strategy. Once we reduce the traffic, that will allow rejuvenation – we’re looking to reinvigorate those ‘village community’ bases that were always a part of the history of this road.”

The Liberal State Shadow Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Brad Hazzard, flagged renewal as essential for the corridor, but was non-committal on details, pending the completion of the Metropolitan Strategy review. “Regarding development, the question remains as to what is reasonable, and that largely depends on the infrastructure that can be put in place to support it,” he said. “The talk of about 60,000 new homes and about 50,000 jobs by 2030 may be appropriate if the necessary infrastructure can be provided – but there’s a very big question mark over whether that’s a density level residents would be happy with.

“What we’d be looking at is certainly continuing the consultation with the community about what they would like to see happen. But my discussions, especially with shopkeepers on Parramatta Road, is that they want the area redeveloped, but want it redeveloped with much more people-friendly places. The public domain, which is really critical, was not a strong point of the Metro Strategy, and nor was infrastructure delivery. Both of those aspects I’d certainly like to see revisited, in partnership with the relevant local councils.”

Leichhardt Mayor Jamie Parker is one who will welcome the call for greater consultation. “With the election of Fiona in Marrickville, we’ll both be working together to look at developing a strategy for Parramatta Road,” he said. “Obviously there’s a blossoming which is taking place on Parramatta Road – photography studios and wedding shops in particular – and we want to work on ways that we can try and improve and develop that precinct.

“The issue with Parramatta Road is not so much about density, but more about about liveability and amenity. Over the years, it’s become a huge funnel for traffic, which has then reduced the capacity of shoppers to stop, and also, because of the sheer volume of traffic, made it very difficult for residents.

“One of the things we need to do is look at how we can introduce planning controls which over time, lead to consolidation, and allow opportunities for more viable development to take place.”

A series of written questions on how this might be achieved, along with other issues, was submitted to both the Minister for Planning Tony Kelly, and the Minister for Roads and Western Sydney David Borger, but neither had responded by the time the Independent went to print.

UPDATE: A spokesperson for Mr Kelly told the Independent after print deadline that the review of the Metropolitan Strategy was being guided by, “a greater emphasis on development in centres… [helping] to create a lively environment in which to live, work, socialise and invest in one location, rather than spread along a corridor.

“As such, the Department’s preferred option for Parramatta Road is as an important enterprise corridor which has a focus on business and employment, rather than high-density urban renewal. In saying this, there are opportunities for some urban renewal at suitable sites along the corridor.”