Anger at plan to split up Sydney: [2 All-round First Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 05 Dec 2005: 8.
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Abstract
The 25-year plan, hailed yesterday by NSW Premier Morris Iemma as a blueprint to secure Sydney as Australia's gateway to the world, was derided by the Opposition as "just a collection of coloured drawings".
Mr Iemma claimed Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future would provide a city centre within easy reach of every Sydney family.
Measures to safeguard farmland on the urban fringe, and to protect Sydney's $1 billion a year agriculture industry, are included. An early part of the plan, a new tollway through western Sydney, will open on December 16, eight months ahead of schedule. The $1.5 billion Westlink M7, funded mainly by the private sector and the federal Government, will be a fully electronic toll road that uses a distance-based tolling system.
SYDNEY will be turned into a network of five different cities over the next quarter of the century.
The 25-year plan, hailed yesterday by NSW Premier Morris Iemma as a blueprint to secure Sydney as Australia's gateway to the world, was derided by the Opposition as "just a collection of coloured drawings".
Mr Iemma claimed Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future would provide a city centre within easy reach of every Sydney family.
But Opposition planning spokesman Chris Hartcher said the proposal just papered over divisions between two of the state's most senior ministers.
Mr Hartcher said the secret behind the City to Cities announcement was that it was devoid of proper infrastructure planning and revealed a rift between Infrastructure Minister Michael Costa and Planning Minister Frank Sartor.
He said Mr Costa had wanted to include infrastructure in the strategic plan but had been over-ruled. "This battle has been waging massively," he said.
"This is the architect's plan for a house without the tradesmen or the materials. As long as the NSW Government refuses to put up an infrastructure plan, it is simply a collection of coloured drawings."
Mr Iemma said Sydney would be divided into 10 new sub-regions to cater for predicted population increases and to ensure housing affordability, with detail being released in coming months.
By 2031, Sydney is expected to have an additional 1.1 million residents, 500,000 new jobs and 640,000 extra dwellings.
The five cities will be based around the CBD and North Sydney as well as Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool in the city's west.
Mr Iemma said the report would provide a framework to secure Sydney's status as Australia's gateway to the world.
"This plan is about making Sydney a better place to live -- managing growth and sharing our prosperity across an expanding city," he said.
"This means the infrastructure needs of our expanding communities are met at the same time as new suburbs develop. It delivers jobs, housing, transport, shopping, recreation, culture and waterside facilities within easy reach of every Sydney family. Sydney's dynamism has spread far beyond the traditional central business district."
Greens MP Sylvia Hale criticised the plan as a rehash of existing initiatives and merely a public relations exercise.
"There is certainly nothing in this document that will improve the long-term liveability of Sydney," she said. "The Government has clearly abandoned any pretence at real planning."
The scheme includes the establishment of a new Employment Lands Advisory Group to ensure Sydney has an adequate supply of industrial land.
As well as the creation of 43 new bus corridors, the plan involves the construction of an $8 billion rail extension to Sydney's northwest and southwest.
Measures to safeguard farmland on the urban fringe, and to protect Sydney's $1 billion a year agriculture industry, are included. An early part of the plan, a new tollway through western Sydney, will open on December 16, eight months ahead of schedule. The $1.5 billion Westlink M7, funded mainly by the private sector and the federal Government, will be a fully electronic toll road that uses a distance-based tolling system.
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