This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SYDNEY Olympic Park will undergo its biggest transformation since the 2000 Olympic Games, with the Minns NSW government giving the tick of approval for a metro station precinct that will deliver up to 490 new homes.
The announcement comes as tunnelling surges ahead on the Metro West line, with two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) breaking through at Sydney Olympic Park Metro Station, marking the end of an 18-month journey for TBMs Beatrice and Daphne to carve out two 11-kilometre tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park.
This new precinct approved by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure will be made up of three buildings between 21 and 45 storeys, including more than 300 new homes, and a mix of commercial and retail uses.
Following approval of these buildings, Sydney Metro will seek to change the development plans to provide 190 more residential dwellings.
Delivery of the homes is supported by the NSW government’s Homebush Transport Oriented Development (TOD) proposal that is set to provide capacity for up to 16,100 additional homes, part of its broader plan to unlock more higher density housing around train stations.
“The NSW government is getting on with the job of actively planning and delivering more homes for the next generation,” Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully said.
“This approval cements our plan to support the delivery of well-located homes close to transport, jobs and amenities.
“The precinct will include more than 300 homes along with nearly 35,000 sqm of retail and commercial space which will support hundreds of jobs.”
It will be connected to additional public transport links including the Sydney Olympic Park train and light rail stops. To provide increased capacity during events, Sydney Olympic Park metro station will feature platforms on both sides of the train, allowing large crowds to disembark and board simultaneously.
The two TBMs tunnelling from The Bays to this new metro station have excavated a total of 2,052,119 tonnes of material, enough to fill about 316 Olympic swimming pools, while installing 72,456 tunnelling segments to line the new tunnel walls.
Work inside the 200-metre-long, 37-metre-wide, and 27-metre-deep station box at Sydney Olympic Park will now shift to dismantling the TBMs and getting the box ready for station construction.
Work to build the integrated station development is expected to start from 2027, following a review prepared by the future development partner.
Further development opportunities are being considered along the line at Westmead, Burwood North and The Bays, while plans for integrated station developments at Parramatta and Pyrmont are under review.
Sydney Metro has is also in the process of selecting a developer for over station developments at Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD.
The city-shaping Sydney Metro West project will double rail capacity between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD .
“The Sydney Metro West project will reshape the face of Sydney getting more people from across Western Sydney where they go faster and delivering more well-located homes across Sydney,” Premier Chris Minns said.
“Today marks another important step forward in building Australia’s biggest public transport project that we are harnessing to deliver thousands of more homes.”
The TOD was unveiled by the NSW government last year and would see zoning changes within 400 metres of around 39 train stations to allow for more residential buildings of three to six storeys, terraces, townhouses, duplexes and smaller one-storey to two-storey apartment blocks to be built. Rezoning could create capacity for up to 61,855 new homes over 15 years. Planning changes to a number of the subject precincts have gone to exhibition.
A Productivity Commission review handed down last month suggested doubling the radius of the relaxed planning controls around TOD stations beyond 400 metres where feasibility is high, namely inner eastern and North Shore suburbs such as Artarmon, Wollstonecraft and Waverton.
