Plans for the Soon-to-be-Former Sydney Fish Market Site Have Been Unveiled

While Pyrmont's beloved Sydney Fish Markets are set to move to its new-look multimillion-dollar site by the end of 2024, the NSW Government has just unveiled plans for the future of Blackwattle Bay and the current Sydney Fish Market site in its absence.

The new plans for the bay are currently on exhibition to the public. The plan includes 12 buildings with the potential to hold 2800 residents as well as commercial, retail and community spaces. Libraries, childcare facilities, community centres and a public domain building for cultural use adjacent to the Sydney Fish Market are all outlined as part of the project.

The transformation will also see the waterfront precinct feature a new foreshore promenade running between Glebe Island Bridge and the new fish market, which will form part of a plan to make the fish market site more accessible. Other aspects of the proposal include a new ferry stop, public wharves and an underground car park with 417 spaces.

Artist interpretation of the new Blackwattle Bay

"Building the new Sydney Fish Market at the head of Blackwattle Bay is an incredible opportunity to transform an under-utilised area into a vibrant, accessible and attractive waterfront precinct," Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes said when more detailed plans for the fish market were revealed last year.

The new-look Blackwattle Bay precinct will potentially form part of a larger foreshore project that will also see White Bay's heritage buildings and surrounding area restored and transformed into a residential and commercial precinct. Included in the proposed plan for White Bay, which is currently under consideration, is the restoration of the Glebe Island Bridge and the preservation of the Glebe Island Silos. Other elements of the planned development include affordable housing, increased employment opportunities, the maintenance of the area's maritime industry, a harbour foreshore walk and a waterfront park.

Render of White Bay

On Facebook, Sydney Lorde Mayor Clover Moore called the plan for Blackwattle Bay "shocking", claiming the project was designed with "maximum developer profits" in mind and warning the residential buildings would "re-cast the whole area as shadow land" including the new Sydney Fish Market's solar panel roof.

If you want to have your say about the plan you can find out more and make a submission via the NSW Government's Planning Portal up until Sunday, August 8.

The new Sydney Fish Market is slated for completion in 2024.

Images courtesy of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.