Below is a 1992 newspaper advertisement promoting "St John's Wood" at Gordon. The development comprised townhouses and apartments. In addition, residents received 24-hour security, and facilities including a swimming pool, tennis courts and a clubhouse.
Source: Australian Housing & Land. 1992 "St John's Wood" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, December 5: 83.
Below is a 1992 newspaper advertisement for Chelsea Court in Surry Hills. Two bedroom apartments were on offer from $260, 000.
During their 1992 tour of Australia, The Beach Boys did one concert in Sydney. Instead of opting for venues such as the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney Football Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground, they performed at North Narrabeen Reserve, North Narrabeen (home to Rat Park and Warringah Rugby Club).
The venue was within walking distance of Narrabeen Beach. Narrabeen is referenced in the Beach Boys’ 1963 hit “Surfin’ U.S.A.” as “Australia’s Narrabeen,” establishing a direct geographic connection between the 1992 concert site and the song’s roll call of surf locations.
20, 000 people attended the concert on Saturday, November 28 1992. Lead singer Brian Wilson did not perform, but John Stamos (Full House) was a guest drummer, as reported by The Sun Herald (November 29 1992), who was a "hit" with the "teenage girls".
Source: Tubb, R. 1992. "Beach Boys Thrill Fans Again". The Sun Herald, November 29: 6
Source: McDougall, B. 1992. "Rooms at the top". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, March 9: 10 & 11.
One of the biggest impacts of the 1990-1991 economic recession in Sydney was the increase in vacant space in city office buildings.
In 1992, the recession had finished but was still making its presence felt. Unemployment in Australia would peak at 11.2 % of the labour force by the end of that year.
Also, building projects that were conceived during the boom years of the Australian economy during the 1980s were still under construction as developers hoped that strong economic times would continue and that businesses would lease space in office buildings in central Sydney and the suburbs. In early 1992, thre were 14 office buildings that were identified by The Daily Telegraph Mirror as under construction including Chifley Tower, Governor Phillip Tower and Governor Macquarie Tower.
At the time, office vacancy rates in central Sydney ranged around 15%, but Chatswood was recording a vacancy rate of 30%. Around half a million square meters of office space was dormant.
There were some projects that did not go ahead e.g. 2 Park Street, Angel Place, Village Cinema Centre redevelopment. World Square was a major victim. A dispute between the developer, construction workers and unions saw the project grind to a halt in 1990 as it had raised concerns over the economic vialability of the project. Even in the early 1990s there was optimism that construction would recommence but built in stages over an extended period of time
Vacancy rates in central Sydney is currently at 13.7%, reflecting the reduced demand for office space associated with the appeal of work from home arrangements for workers which has seen a reduction in demand for office space. This is up from 5% in the period prior to COVID.
Below is a 1992 newspaper advertisement by Neeta Homes. Not long after this advertisement was published, the company went into liquidation (May 1992). Buyers only needed $1000 for an initial deposit, while the total price of a house and land package ranged from $ 99,500 to $ 149,000. House and land packages were available in Liverpool, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Penrith, and Camden regions, along with Bligh Park and the Central Coast.
Source: Chancellor, J. & Cook, D. 1992. "Mirvac keen to go alone on Quay site". The Sydney Morning Herald, February 11: 26.
After a two-week recess, I present the tenth entry on the redevelopment of East Circular Quay. A fortnight ago, I posted an entry on the 'Ideas Quest' held by Sydney City Council to determine future planning guidelines for Circular Quay. This followed the rejection of Colonial Mutual Limited's (CML) $700 million proposal to redevelop five blocks and consolidate them into a single commercial development.
Mirvac owned 61 Macquarie Street and had been encouraged to unite with AMP (Owners of the Coca-Cola Amatil Building) and CML to redevelop the entire block in a joint project.
Instead, Mirvac proposed their own development for their site in late 1991, but it was not made public until the following year. This would be their first scheme to redevelop the site, which would eventually become a hotel and apartment complex, home to the Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour Hotel.
The office building occupying the site was to be demolished, and a 22-level, 254-room hotel would be built. The building would have been similar in height to existing buildings on the block, but there were concerns about increased shadowing at Circular Quay in the early morning.
So why did this plan not proceed? The answer shall be revealed next week
Entries in this series
Any change to public transport timetables in Sydney will always incur at least some criticism or controversy. It may affect one line or route or the entire network.
Given that trains are our more patronised mode of public transport in Sydney, any changes to timetables will impact more commuters than buses and ferries, and hence receive more attention. Changes to train timetables often flow onto bus timetables where bus routes connect with rail services.
You may remember the changes from a particular year, because they may have impacted you directly.
In 1992, I was seven years of age and being a child did not have to rely on trains to get around, but Cityrail made changes to its timetables, which at the time were controversial. This entry provides an overview of why.
Why a new timetable?
In 1991, the NSW Government decided to retire the red rattler trains due to safety concerns associated with open doors in their carriages, which was to be completed in 1993. Most of the remaining carriages were retired in January 1992 and were to be confined to the Bankstown and Inner West lines until their final withdrawal the following year.
Meanwhile, Tangara carriages (known as T set) were still being rolled out across the network following their introduction in 1988 and continued to be rolled out to suburban lines until 1994, with the outer suburban G set version rolled out in 1994 and 1995.
Also, Cityrail sought to increase services to outer suburban stations.
What were the changes?
Transport advocacy group Action for Public Transport called for the restructuring of some lines to improve efficiency and hence capacity, such as the Bankstown Line and better turnarounds at Berowra.
Source: Anon. "Train service 'a mess'". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, January 22: 20.
The State Government was forced to act, altering timetables. The first round of changes was "small". Cityrail claimed to have received 26,000 calls, with many supporting the new timetable, especially the replacement of red rattler trains with modern carriages. Shadow Transport Minister Brian Langton (ALP, Kogarah) called for the timetable to be axed while the ALP had received thousands of complaints via a special hotline that they set up. Mr Langton himself was a rail commuter and saw firsthand for himself the impact it was having on his travels and those of his fellow constituents.
Source: Jones, S. 1992. "New review of Cityrail timetables". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, February 8:11.
Later that month, a further 100 changes to the timetable were to be implemented over the following months. Some services would receive extra carriages, while some services would be altered to either have more stops or fewer stops.
Source: McLean, S. "More tail changes to help commuters". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, February 24: 18.
Additional Reading
Action for Transport (N.S.W.). 1992. "New Cityrail timetable," Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Media Release Newsletter, no 1 (February 1992), https://www.aptnsw.org.au/newsletters/19921.html
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| Above: Coverage by The Sydney Morning Herald on 7 July 1992. |
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| Above: Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre. Photo taken by the Author (2009). |
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| Above: The Bullecourt Apartment Complex. Photo taken by the Author (2015). |
I have previously shared newspaper advertisements for Homeworld II at Prospect from 1991 and 1993 along with a TV advertisement. This advertisement for Homeward II was published in 1992.
Homeward no longer uses numbers for each new centre, but rather has opened villages in various suburbs across the Sydney metropolitan area, Central Coast and Hunter regions. One has opened recently at Box Hill, but also at Leppington, Marsden Park, Warnervale (Central Coast) and Thornton (Newcastle).
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| Above: Advertisement to promote the opening of Greater Union at Miranda in 1992. |
