Overview
James Packer may need to go back to the drawing board, after members from the City of Sydney called on the NSW Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) to reject a series of proposed changes to the magnate's $1.5 billion tower project at Barangaroo.
A submission before the PAC would see the height of the Crown hotel, apartment and casino complex increased by an additional 100 metres, and occupy a part of the foreshore currently intended for use as a public park. But the City of Sydney's chief planner has slammed the new proposal, arguing that the tower would "dominate and overwhelm" the Barangaroo site.
"There is clear failure in the assessment to consider site suitability and the broader public interest," City of Sydney's Graham Jahn told the PAC on Thursday. "North-eastern views of the Opera House for 66 apartments and VIP guests, at the expense of permanent foreshore parkland for Sydneysiders, cannot be a defendable trade-off."
While the proposal did have its supporters, including Liberal councillor Christine Forster and Sydney Business Chamber executive director Patricia Forsythe, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a majority of speakers before the PAC opposed the new plan. Among them was Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich and former government architect Peter Mould. "The only possible explanation for this change is increased profits without any accrued public benefit," said Mould. "In fact, there is considerable public disbenefit."
The final decision on the Crown complex lies with the PAC. Chairwoman Lynelle Briggs said the commission would make its decision "as soon as practicable."
Via SMH. Image: Lend Lease/Crown.