East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): NSW Government Response (1997)

Looking back at recent entries in the series, 1997 was a major year in the redevelopment of East Circular Quay with the construction of the new buildings, criticism of the redevelopment, public opposition and from its opponents, alternative schemes to redevelop the area. 

This week, we will focus on the State Government's response to the redevelopment and its response to criticism from opponents of the redevelopment. 

East Circular Quay was under the jurisdiction of Sydney City Council, which regulated planning guidelines. As the redevelopment of both development sites at East Circular Quay was over $50 million each, the Central Sydney Planning Committee had the authority to either approve or reject a proposed development. The committee was not comprised entirely of those sitting or working for the council. Four members of the committee are appointed by the Planning Minister. 

Opponents felt that the State Government needed to take action to halt redevelopment. As mentioned in Part #18 (June 24 2024), the NSW Government had ruled out the acquisition of the site due to the cost - $700 million at the start of 1997.

David Brice Scheme

Last week, I provided an overview of David Brice's scheme to consolidate the sites of Quay Apartments and the Royal Automobile Club onto one site, build one tall tower, and scale back the development at East Circular Quay.

Source: Totaro, P. & Wainwright, R. 1997. "Quay question: will Sydney accept this trade-off?" The Sydney Morning Herald, June 4.1.

He was unable to persuade the State Government to consider his scheme. The State Government felt that the proposed park at East Circular Quay was not a suitable tradeoff in exchange for building the 55-storey tower south of the Cahill Expressway, citing the size of the park and the proposed height of the tower. 

Land Swap proposals were suggested such as redeveloping part of Observatory Hill Park, but were not supported by the government.

Source: Anon. 1997. "Architects want Bridge park swap". The Daily Telegraph, April 16: 15. 

Bob Carr's view

It was reported that Bob Carr (Premier) was privately supportive of demolishing the Bennelong Apartments building, though it was the cost of demolition that it would impose on the State Government that was holding him back

Source: Allen, L. 1997. "Demolition a tall order". The Australian, March 29: page unknown. 

Some cited articles mentioned in this post were sourced from the Factiva Database.

Entries in this Series

1. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The first apartment block proposal (1979)
2. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Opera Garden Centre Scheme (1984)
3. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Unilever House Hotel Conversion (1986)
4. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Opera Garden Centre Scheme Revisited (1986)
5. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Unilever House Hotel Conversion (1987)
6. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): CML's 1990 Scheme
7. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): CML's Bennelong Centre (1991)
8. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The Revolving Office Tower Scheme (1991)
9. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): East Circular Quay 'Ideas Quest' (1992)
10. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Mirvac Hotel Scheme - 61 Macquarie Street (1992)
11. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): New Planning Guidelines unveiled (1993)
12. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The shift towards residential development (1993)
13. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Residential Scheme unveiled (1994)
14. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Construction commences (1995)
15. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Construction continues (1996)
16. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Unveiling "The Toaster" (1997)
17. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The protests (1997)
18. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Redevelopment Visions (1997)