Councillor Chris Harris

Lord Mayor Clover Moore has voted to side with developers over the community in the ongoing case of the Barangaroo development.  At a Council meeting last Monday I introduced a motion calling for the City to provide $10 000 to the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) should it proceed with legal action in conjunction with the Barangaroo Action Group if new development plans are approved by the Planning Minister.  As a result of Clover’s vote the EDO may now not be able to proceed with this action. 

The EDO approached the City to contribute to possible action so that it was clear that the EDO was acting in the broader public interest and not just in the interests of a particular group of residents. The Lord Mayor’s actions have prevented the City from genuinely aligning itself with the broader community by  ’getting down in the trenches’ with residents to oppose the massive overdevelopment on Barangaroo. Her actions have also jeopardised the ability of the EDO to act for local residents.

The application before the Minister for Planning is to excavate a giant pit that will house at least four floors of car parking to be used for commercial parking for the foreseeable future. These plans risk spreading contamination into the harbour and onto Council land.  They also fly in the face of claims that the development will be environmentally sensitive by providing commercial parking for over 800 cars and leaving no room for trigeneration systems which would have provided low carbon energy to the development.  Council planning staff say the plans are so riddled with problems that they would never be approved were the decision up to Council. You can read the City’s damning assessment here.

Prior to the meeting I sought legal advice on whether or not the Lord Mayor, as a member of the Barangaroo Delivery Authority Board, would have a conflict of interest in voting on this matter.  The advice indicated clearly that she would have a conflict and should therefore absent herself from the voting.  The advice is attached here.

Despite this advice, which I circulated to all Councilors prior to the meeting, the Lord Mayor did not declare any sort of conflict in the matter.  She chose to remain in the Council chambers while my motion was debated and then to participate in the vote on whether or not it should be adopted. 

The vote came down to a 5-5 split, with fellow Greens Councilor Irene Doutney, Liberal Shayne Mallard and two members of the Clover Moore Party (John McInerney and Marcelle Hoff) voting with me in support.  Labor Councilor Meredith Burgmann, supporting the state government party line, voted with Clover Moore and the remaining three members of her team to oppose the motion.  Moore then used her casting vote as Lord Mayor to vote a second time and defeat the motion. 

Had Moore absented herself, in line with the legal advice, the motion would have passed.  The Council would be standing up for what it has repeatedly stated it believes in and would not be relying on volunteers from the community, such as the Barangaroo Action Group and The Friends of Barangaroo, to fight its battles. 

I have since filed a complaint with the NSW Ombudsman and the Department of Local Government asking them to confirm the legal advice that Clover Moore had a conflict of interest in this matter.

The text of my motion to Council can be found here. The SMH story on the council meeting is here.

The draft planning proposal for Harold Park was presented to Council’s Planning, Development and Transport Committee On Monday 19th July.  The plan can be found here.  I have mixed feelings on the plan and when it comes back to Council next week I will support it being exhibited for community comment but will not give it an endorsement until the public have had the oppurtunity to make their feelings known and unless some of my concerns are addressed.  Below is a media release which summarises my views on the planning proposal. 

For more details on the redevelopment of Harold Park, please see this earlier post on the issue.

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Harold Park planning proposal a mixed bag 

City of Sydney Greens Councillor Chris Harris says he has mixed feelings about the newly released planning proposal for the Harold Park site in Glebe, to be considered by Council on Monday the 19th July.  “It’s great to see it committing to the site being 35% open space” he said.  “This is something that myself and Greens Mayor of Leichardt Council Jamie Parker have been demanding for some time now. I applaud the proposal for 50 affordable housing units that will form part of the Voluntary Planning Agreement and I am pleased that any bonus FSR allowance is tied to a 25% performance above the weak BASIX requirements set down by the state government. I also support the heritage listing of the Tramsheds”

However Clr Harris said he was disappointed that the maximum height of the buildings was still eight stories and that the number of apartments proposed was 1200.  “An eight storey development will not be in keeping with the predominant low rise housing stock in Glebe and Annandale. There will be issues of overshadowing and visual impact on the cherished heritage streets above the cliff tops in Glebe. I would prefer to see a height limit of around six stories.”

“I’m also concerned about the effects of 1000 plus parking spaces for residents and the possibility of hundreds more for retail & commercial development in the Tramsheds. If this plan were to be approved there would be around 1500 cars “living” in an area that currently has only a handful.  The traffic report acknowledges that key intersections are already at capacity and I find it inconceivable that these extra cars will not have an impact on an already over capacity road network. This should be a low car precinct so that it attracts people who want to live close to the city and who don’t want to own a car. Catering for endless increases in car use is not a sustainable strategy”

Clr Harris said that the City and the State Government would have to work very closely with Metotransit, the operators of the Sydney light rail service, to make sure this currently under-utilised mode of transport is accessible and attractive to the people who will live here. “The tramline right nearby creates an opportunity to reduce car use and give people a viable option for transport. Unmet private car needs can be taken up with car share and I note that the Development Control Plan requires developers to provide car share spaces.”
 
“Another concern is the open possibility of a major retailer putting a supermarket in the Tramsheds. This will lead to pressure for more car access and car parking on the site. I believe this needs to be clarified before council signs off on the planning scheme

“The proposal has some good initiatives but it is still weighted far too heavily in favour of the Trotting Club and its single minded desire to maximise the development potential and therefore the sale price of the site. The Club acquired the Tramsheds in a dodgy deal with its mates in the state government and we need to see that unwarranted benefit unwound via a bigger dividend to the community. That dividend could be delivered by reducing car use on the site and reducing the density of the residential development.”
  

Despite making numerous commitments to sustainability, Fraser’s have failed to control environmentally damaging stormwater runoff from their redevelopment of the Carlton United Breweries site on Broadway (see images).  Below is a media release on the matter that I sent out last week.  Many thanks to local sustainability expert Michael Mobbs for bringing this matter to my attention and for this article he recently published on the topic.  

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Greens Councillor Chris Harris wants the City of Sydney to issue a please explain to the Frasers Property Group after torrents of sediment laden storm water were seen leaving their development at the Carlton United Breweries (CUB) site on Broadway during recent heavy rain.  Clr Harris says that the stormwater pollution, which overflowed from the site into gutters and street drains leading to Blackwattle Bay, is completely at odds with the claims of sustainability that Fraser’s have repeatedly used in relation to the development.

Several years ago Fraser’s committed to a number of sustainability goals following litigation, organised by Clr Harris and commenced by Matthew Drake Brockman – a Sydney Law student.  Cr Harris: “These goals included the capture and recycling of rainwater from the site but Fraser’s failure to effectively manage the recent torrent of pollution casts a cloud over whether they are really serious about this. 

“It’s disappointing to see that Fraser’s feel the sustainability goals they committed to don’t yet matter because the development isn’t yet completed. It may take up to 15 years to complete and I don’t think the environment is going to wait.

“The fact that the development isn’t yet complete won’t make a lick of difference to the marine environments of Blackwattle Bay that received several million litres of sediment laden stormwater from the bare dirt at the site over the last few weeks.  Who knows what contaminants this torrent contains?  I also worry about whether or not the rain caused the heritage sewer line that runs through the site to overflow, adding raw sewage to the stormwater that Fraser’s failed to stop.” 

Clr Harris said that plans for the construction of a massive new stormwater drain prompted further questions about Fraser’s intentions for the project. 

Cr Harris: “In May this year Fraser’s announced that they were going to spend 6-7 months, working 7 nights a week, to build a new stormwater drain along 200m of Abercrombie Street.  Six months to build 200m of drain makes me think that this must be one hell of a drain.  Why would a site that’s going to be capturing most of it’s rainwater need such a huge drain?”

“Fraser’s claim to have put in additional silt traps and redirected runoff in response to the heavy rain, but attached photos show that this work was either too little, too late or both.  The same goes for the site’s holding pond, which is far too small to be effective.  “Both these examples show that the planning work put in to ensure that the site was sustainable during construction was inadequate.” Clr Harris said.

“A true commitment to sustainability starts when the first sod is turned.  It doesn’t mean you wait around for a decade while you finish building before you clean up your act.  I’ll be keeping a close eye on the CUB site now and will make sure any further episodes like this aren’t swept under the rug.” Clr Harris said.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s exclusion of Councillors from meetings is undemocratic.  Below is a media release I sent out today detailing how her recent uncooperative approach to meeting times is unfair and exclusionary. 

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City of Sydney Greens Cr Chris Harris was critical of undemocratic action by the Lord Mayor Clover Moore who deliberately reduced Greens representation at Committees of the City of Sydney on Tuesday June 15th. Clover Moore Party members used their majority to amend the date of June’s Council meeting to 21st June so that Ms Moore could preside over the meeting as well as attend a council funded trip to China on the originally scheduled meeting date of 28th June. The Committee meeting was then rescheduled to Tuesday 15th June.  However the new Committee date excludes Harris’ fellow Greens Councillor Irene Doutney from the committee as well as Labor’s only representative Cr Meredith Burgmann.

“Councillor Doutney planned an overseas trip several months ago and arranged it so as to avoid her personal activities interfering with her duties on Council.”  Cr Harris said.  “For the Lord Mayor to turn around and arrogantly move the Committee dates with a few weeks notice is outrageous especially given that Ms Moore received her invitation to visit China in October 2009.”

Both Greens Councillors wrote to the Lord Mayor requesting that the meetings be moved to a date that would allow them both to attend. However their letters were ignored and the Lord Mayor failed to respond to either Greens member. 

Clr Harris said: “At the council meeting I attempted to amend the motion to leave the Committee meeting where it was and simply move the Council meeting forward to Friday 25th. This would have allowed both Greens to participate and would have accommodated Ms Moore who was scheduled to fly out of Sydney on 27th June. Ms Moore offered no explanation and simply used her numbers to ram what she wanted through. Now the Committee meeting, which members of the public are able to address, will be on a Tuesday instead of the usual Monday and this may exclude community members as well.”

“This is just the latest in a series of very telling signs that the power of having a majority on Council has gone to Ms Moore’s head.  There was no reason given, not even an acknowledgement, other ideas & suggestions were simply ignored”

Harold Park’s owners have an obligation to create a development that favours the public good over profit. 

However if current plans for the redevelopment of Harold Park Paceway go ahead the iconic, though little used, race track will be transformed into a new mini suburb between Glebe and Forest Lodge.  A suburb where close to 2000 people live in eight story apartment buildings next door to a retail hub and multilevel car park built in and around the heritage listed tram sheds.  This would be a massive overdevelopment for the area that would result in surrounding streets becoming chronic traffic snarls and deprive the new residents of meaningful open space - a huge profit for the Harness Racing Club (HRC - the sites owners) but very little positive for the community.

The neighbouring streets do not have the capacity to cope with thousands of extra cars per day.  Therefore the site should be planned to attract people who do not want to own a car while integrating effectively into the public transport network and the proposed commercial areas should not include heavy traffic generators like intensive retail. 

There is also a need for far more open space than is included in the current plan. The surrounding open space includes parks that already get heavy use not just from the local community but also from people who live further afield.  The people who will live here need adequate open space within the new precinct which must also cater for those who will work in the commercial areas.  The site is currently around 35% open space and it needs to stay that way, not be reduced to around 25% as the current plan suggests.
  
Sustainability also needs much more emphasis in any new development on the Harold Park site. In this age of climate change on-site power production through solar panels and trigeneration together with water capture and recycling should be mandatory in a development of this scale.  However in the current plans they get almost no mention.

Along with many other concerned citizens I have called on the HRC to reduce the scale of the development so as not to cause the kind of the disruption to the surrounding area that has been outlined above. The same request has been made by Greens Mayor of Leichhardt Council - Cr. Jamie Parker. Furthermore the Greens view of this proposed development is supported by the Glebe Society and the Glebe Chamber of Commerce. In reply the HRC argues that they can’t accomodate our suggestions because the changes would reduce the economic viability of the project, which will fund a revitalisation of the harness racing industry.

The Greens reject this self serving approach by the HRC especially given that they obtained a valuable piece of land adjoining Harold Park for free in a mates deal with the state government – land which includes heritage listed tram sheds that will form part of the redevelopment.

How on Earth did the HRC get a piece of land in Glebe, almost three football fields in size and right next to a light rail station, for free?  Stay with me and you’ll find out…

The tram shed site and the piece of adjoining land between it and Johnson’s Creek were initially purchased from the state government in the 80’s and early 90’s not by the HRC but by the Harness Racing Authority (HRA), which was a government body at the time.  The HRA then proceeded to lease this land to the HRC for the paltry sum of $1 per year.  The HRC had use of government land for its own purposes for free and never had to pay land tax, council rates or stamp duty because the official owner was a government body.

But if you think that seems unfair, just wait until you hear the next part of the story.

Legislative changes eventually transformed the HRA into a non-government body, which would have taken away its ability to avoid rates, but before these changes took place the land was transferred to the HRC for a peppercorn amount of $2.  Now not only did the HRC get to use the land for free, they were given ownership of it for free.

To take the absurdity a step even further, the $2.3 million which the HRA originally paid for the land came from a grant from the government controlled Racecourse Development Fund.  The fund gives grants to be used for improving racecourses and this money was paid out on the basis that the land would be used for stabling, a use to which it was never put.  All they used the land for was overflow parking and they let the heritage listed tram sheds fall apart - as can be seen in the above image.  In hindsight it seems like they used the grant to engage in a bit of real estate speculation.

It is speculation that certainly paid off.  When the HRC previously considered selling the tram sheds and their surrounds in 2005 their estimated value was $11 million, and they would most likely be worth even more now.  Selling the land for this amount would represent a massive profit to the HRC given the means by which they obtained it in the first place.  Had the government hung onto the land instead of giving it to the HRC years ago there’d be at least an extra $11 million in the public purse right now – $11 million that the government could have spent on affordable housing, public transport improvements or research into renewable energy.  Or they could have kept the land and used it to build a city farm, a youth centre, sporting facilities or something else of benefit to the community.

It is for this reason that the HRC owes it to the people of NSW to scale back their profits a little in the name of giving something back to the community.  And I know that a large number of the residents of Glebe and Forest Lodge agree with me, as evidenced by the 100 plus people who turned out on a Monday night to a meeting on the issue that Jamie Parker and I hosted, as well as from the mass of correspondence that has come into my office.  The message to the HRC is clear – they need to listen to the community and reduce the density of the development, include significantly more open space and sustainability measures and properly integrate with the public transport network so as not to turn the surrounding streets into a traffic nightmare.  Given the good deal they’ve got it is the least they should be doing. 

Image coutesy of Phil Rogers, who took the photo for this issue of Central.