BarrangaRORT...

BarrangaRIPOFF!

BarrangaWRONG!!!!

PLEASE OBJECT TO "MOD 9", NOW - link!

Cash grab?!  Ripoff?  Public Scandal?  You bet. 

Ever wondered why the 'artists impression' of Central Barangaroo was always so blurry and translucent? 

Because the NSW Government didn't want you to see that the 'Concept Plan' that it had already approved wasn't quite what it had in mind for the site...

NEWS just in: the (no-so-stable) NSW State Government, via Infrastructure NSW, has finally submitted its plans for the stench of buildings that will call 'Central barangaroo' home. 

And they're 3x bigger than previously approved.

Featuring:

• buildings so despicably tall they will block sacrosanct sight lines from observatory hill - views that have existed forever.   Goodbye nice sunsets. Goodbye insta-gram moments.  That's a Dom-Perrotett-20-storey-special photo-bombing your westerly wedding photos! 
• white elephant residential high-rises so monstrous they make blues point tower blush — apparently designed just high enough so the top floor can sell for $50M with its uninterrupted views of the Opera House.  Ker-ching.  That's Dom's tall middle-finger, waving goodbye to you as he gets booted out of Parliament....
• stolen public land (for private gain) — land that was approved for recreation and community space will be apartments and offices, even though Sydney has 15% commercial vacancy and hardly anyone goes to the office any more.... 
• actively destroyed heritage — the encircling the heritage of Millers Point in an ignomy of glass, steel and a some cheap terracotta cladding-ma-bob-crap is basically vandalism.  Views from the west of the Millers Point streetscape have been seen ever since they were built from the 1800’s and will be completely obscured by the Government’s new buildings.
• 140% more bulk and scale they was approved in June 2016 — to get this much gross floor area, the government is looking to increase height above the maximum allowable, remove hickson park, ignore all block controls, have no setbacks, overhand by 3 metres, and provide no vehicle access.  Doesn't that remind you of any other desolate wind-tunnel just down the street?  
• a miraculous slight of hand - counting roads, locked underground 'cutaway' space and parts of the harbour as 'public space' for the purposes of their gross floor area calculations. Imagine if you could do that when you did your own reno - skyscrapers on every block! 
• opaque partnership between the NSW Government and Mall developer Scentre Group and Chinese Apartment developer Aqualand - advised by former Labor minister Luke Foley!  The next NSW election is going Nirvana - Smells like Teal Spirit.

But don't take my word for it:

“This is a disgraceful betrayal of public trust ... It is an assault on the vision of creating a global harbour attraction... Modification 9 is nothing more than a final attempt to squeeze excess development onto the site for short term private profit at the utter detriment of the harbour, public open space, the heritage values at Millers Point and Observatory Hill, iconic views from across the city and Barangaroo itself.”
 — Independent MP for the state seat of Sydney Alex Greenwich

"Shocking"
— the National Trust

“Sydney Harbour and its foreshore, citizens of Sydney, NSW and visitors to and residents of Millers Point will be severely impacted by [the development] which seeks to triple the size of the approved gross floor area and place the equivalent of two Crown Resort Hotels …on a site that was designed to be the “civic heart” of Barangaroo with lower rise buildings and community facilities adjacent to a harbour foreshore park. The proposal effectively “steals” from the public and “gives” to the private – it is a reverse Robin Hood, it’s robbing the ‘hood!”
—  Millers Point Community Resident Action Group President, Bernard Kelly

"The Commission considers that the Barangaroo development has now reached the point where further impacts on view beyond MOD8 need to be minimised. The Commission adopts the following considition to ensure that future development of Block 5 does not impact on key view lines from the Millers Point and Observatory Hill region: C1... Future developemnt... to demonstrate that views from Millers Point and Observatory Hill [will be retainedd]"
— Independent Planning Commission

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/roberts-to-decide-final-plans-for-central-barangaroo-as-objections-pour-in-20220805-p5b7ja.html

Bascially, the proposed "modification" to the Concept:

• Is NOT consistent with the approved Concept
• Is NOT consistent with the Statement of Commitments issued for the Barangaroo Development
• Is NOT consistent with the Sydney Harbour Regional Environmental Plan requirements for the protection of public views
• Is NOT consistent with the policies in the Sydney Harbour Bridge Conservation Management Plan, for the protection of public iconic views
• Does NOT respect the heritage significance of Observatory Hill
• Does NOT respect the heritage significance of Millers Point.
    

Now it's over to you, to object: You can do it here

http://www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=6378

Did I mention you should object? Click this link

 

 

Full disclosure:
Do I live in the area? Yes.
Do I have a view that will be blocked? No.
Do i enjoy watching the view from Observatory Hill like every other Sydneysider?  Absolutely.