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Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

State Government Subregional Planning Strategies - City of Sydney comment

posted Saturday 30 August 2008
The 10 July 2008 item in this series gave notice of the State Government's invitation for submissions on its Draft Subregional Planning Strategies for the City of Sydney and Inner West subregions.

The text below is from the Sydney Lord Mayor's "eNEWS" of 29 August 2008, and relates to the City of Sydney Subregion.

SUB-REGIONAL STRATEGY FAILS CITY'S FUTURE

The City's comprehensive Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision, unanimously adopted by Council in June, provides a blueprint for the City's future and sets a foundation for broader strategies for the Sydney metropolitan region.

Sadly, the State Government's Draft Sydney Subregional Strategy fails to seize this opportunity by overlooking important issues addressed in the City's vision. Action on environmental sustainability, transport and affordable housing falls short of Council and community expectations, all of which are comprehensively addressed in Sustainable Sydney 2030.

The Draft Subregional Strategy is a tool to implement the State Government's Metropolitan Strategy. The State Government has arranged the Sydney metropolitan area into ten subregions, with the City constituting its own region along with the State Government's Redfern Waterloo and Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authorities.

The Subregional Strategy is intended to provide a framework for the long-term development of the City and Sydney Harbour, guiding government investment and linking local and state planning issues. While the City can endorse many of its principles, it misses the mark on global warming, changing housing needs, and required investment in the City's overstretched transport systems.

The Draft Strategy also fails to recognise the important work we have done to develop our new City Plan, and overlooks cooperative discussions with many State agencies on major new initiatives:

The State Government has done little in the way of community consultation on the Draft Strategy, instead taking a top-down approach, telling the community what is best for their neighbourhoods.

On Monday [1 Sept 2008], Council will endorse a submission to the State Government on the Subregional Strategy, seeking further action on issues that you told us were important during our extensive consultations, including over 280 public meetings, workshops and community consultations over the past four years.

For Sustainable Sydney 2030 alone, which forms our framework for securing Sydney's future, over 3500 people joined in our 89 forums and we reached tens of thousands more through our public exhibition, website and displays at City events.

Information: http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/MeetingsAndCommittees/2008/Committees/250808/planning.asp



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