Mirvac accuses Greens MP of 'misinformation' over Harold Park campaign

By Jonathan Chancellor
Friday, 03 February 2012

Mirvac, the developer of the inner-Sydney Harold Park project, has taken the unusual step of commenting on the campaign of opposition to the proposed development.

It has accused the local Balmain Greens MP Jamie Parker of fuelling opposition by “misinformation”.

Mirvac’s response came ahead of this weekend’s public meeting that FLAG Harold Park has asked Parker to chair as part of the campaign “to stop the overdevelopment” of what was previously the Harold Park paceway.

The City of Sydney’s Central Sydney Planning Committee will shortly decide on the first of the development applications for the development. Parker has suggested there are significant community concerns about bulk, scale and density, the lack of affordable housing, and 700 additional vehicle movements per hour in peak periods that would affect surrounding suburbs including Glebe, Forest Lodge and Annandale.

Mirvac had submitted applications for Harold Park that were compliant with the site-specific planning controls and reflected the City of Sydney’s vision for the inner city, says Mirvac development chief John Carfi.

“Despite being provided facts, Mr Parker has continually communicated inaccurate information to the public about items relating to the proposed development.

“This has caused unnecessary community concern and undermines the detailed and thorough rezoning process completed by the City of Sydney,” Carfi says.

“This debate is being fuelled by misinformation.

“The impacts of extra residents in this location were modelled, and considered by the City of Sydney in formulating the site specific planning controls which were subsequently approved by Central Sydney Planning Committee and Council, then legislated by the NSW state government.

“In relation to traffic, Mirvac took the extra precaution of commissioning further traffic studies by specialist transport engineers before submitting its development applications.

“The RTA was also involved at every stage of the process.

Carfi says “Mr Parker’s demands for further studies were an attempt to delay the project and pressure consent authorities into reducing the size of the development which has already been set as part of the rezoning legislation.”

He says as one of the last remaining substantial inner-city sites suitable for residential development, Harold Park represents a very important role in the vision envisaged by the planning authorities.

“Sydney is a growing city with an urgent need for additional housing. In fact so urgent, that the state government is taking steps to fast track the rezoning of more land on the outer fringe of Sydney.

“But at the same time there is an equal need for housing in the inner-city, close to jobs and importantly public transport. Harold Park is in the enviable position of being close to the Jubilee Light Rail station, a range of bus services and cycle-ways.

“Not only that, it is an easy 2.5-kilometre walk to the Sydney CBD”.

“If Sydney is to be a liveable city, sustainable residential development is needed in the inner-city where people are not reliant on private cars. Harold Park meets that need,” Carfi says.

He says there will be a dedication of 38,000 square metres of land, more than 35% of the site area, to the City of Sydney for public open space. There will also be an $8.5 million payment to the City of Sydney to embellish the public open space.

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written by FLAG Harold Park, February 08, 2012

In relation to the above article we (FLAG Harold Park) would like to advise:
•The community meeting held at the St Scholastica’s School, Glebe on 4 February 2012 was organised by ‘FLAG - Residents Impacted by Harold Park’. We are a resident’s action group voicing the concerns of FLAG (Forest Lodge, Annandale and Glebe) residents in relation to the proposed overdevelopment of the Harold Park site. We are purely a residents action group and are not aligned with any political party. We seek support from our council and state government representatives, and invited our NSW government member, Mr Jamie Parker MP, to chair a recent community meeting; and
•The final approval (via the Central Sydney Planning Committee) for the first two of six Precincts is according to Clover Moore's office be in mid March at the earliest.

Based on our communications with FLAG residents over the last few months, there are many concerns being raised with regard to the development including serious concerns about how the local traffic system will manage with an additional 3,000 new residents living at the Harold Park site. Locals know that FLAG roads are already congested during peak periods and travel times are increasing.

To date, only a basic traffic study assessing the perimeter roads around the site has been conducted to assess future impacts from the development. We consider this inappropriate when the site is located in close proximity to three Strategic Transport Corridors (the City West Link, Victoria Road and Parramatta Road). The traffic study has also not considered traffic generated from adjacent major development sites (eg the Super Yacht Marina and Cruise Passenger Terminal/White Bay Redevelopment and One Central Park on Broadway).

Consequently, a detailed micro-simulation traffic model is required to appropriately model the accumulative impacts to the overall traffic network from these development sites. The community expects appropriate, reliable planning.

We support development of this important piece of land located close to Sydney’s CBD. However, the level of planning assessment conducted to date is inappropriate for a development of this scale when overlaid on medium density suburbs with existing traffic and transport issues. As such, we feel that additional planning assessment must be undertaken.

FLAG Harold Park