by Antony Segaert, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 November 2024
Unless you’re one of the 5200 people who call the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park home, you probably only know the precinct for its sporting and entertainment venues – and you don’t visit more than a few times a year.
But if a master plan to transform the area into a mini-city of 30,000 residents by 2050 is successful, that will change.
This week, the state government and Sydney Olympic Park Authority released their plan for the area wedged between Wentworth Point, Silverwater and Homebush. Here’s what you need to know.
How we got here
In the 1990s, after Sydney was announced as the host of the 2000 Olympics, the government reclaimed huge sections of land in the area, replacing industrial factories and a slaughterhouse with stadiums, hotels and a train station.
The facilities have held up remarkably well in the more than two decades since, avoiding the fate of other global Olympic venues that have crumbled into disrepair.
But there’s no denying that Sydney Olympic Park is desperately underused: “It’s a place of ups and downs,” said Allison Taylor, chief executive of the business association in the area. “It’s either pumping and fantastic when there are major events, or it’s very dead.”
Several things align to make the area the perfect candidate for more housing: Sydney Olympic Park is massive – about as wide as the distance between Circular Quay and Central Station – and it’s about to become very well-connected, with a Metro West stop connecting to the city and Parramatta, as well as the under-construction Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2.
The precinct is also almost entirely publicly owned and managed by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, which makes repurposing the area much easier than if the government sought to acquire private land.
What you need to know
Under the plan, Sydney Olympic Park will be divided into five new neighbourhoods, two sports and entertainment precincts, and three parks.
About 13,000 new dwellings – in high- and mid-rise apartments – will be created in a “car-lite” environment.
The crux of the plan is an “urban centre neighbourhood” based around the new metro stop and light rail lines. It will feature apartments, open spaces and a pedestrian retail strip, compared in scale and character to the CBD’s Pitt Street Mall.
A smaller neighbourhood will be created on land west of Qudos Bank Arena, currently a rubbish facility, and more apartments added just north of the Western Highway, where a Meriton master-planned site already exists.
Buildings alone don’t make a city. The surrounding infrastructure is just as important.
The document highlights plans for a new cultural centre, library and community hub, community sports and leisure centres, two new schools, four new sports fields, 10 new playgrounds and seven new public spaces.
It doesn’t specifically outline how these spaces will be funded or constructed but public spaces are often funded by a mix of local councils and developers, who enter into voluntary planning agreements to trade off extra floor space for spending on community facilities.
Investing in such facilities also mitigates concerns raised by residents of Wentworth Point, the densely packed suburb directly next door, who say they are suffering a chronic lack of investment in infrastructure services.
What they said
Sydney Olympic Park Business Association chief executive Allison Taylor: “We’re very supportive of the master plan. Sydney Olympic Park needs people all the time … When there are no major events it feels very quiet and dead because there’s no fine grain.”
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully: “Over the next 20 to 30 years this area will change again to welcome more homes and jobs with a projected population increase of nearly 25,000 people … Planning for this growth starts now.”
Property Council Australia’s NSW deputy executive director Anita Hugo: “This master plan has the potential to transform Sydney Olympic Park into a vibrant, mixed-use precinct that can help address Sydney’s growing housing emergency.”
What next?
The plan promises Sydney Olympic Park will become a “thriving, highly activated suburb, with a finer street grain and human scale that creates a strong urban identity” by 2050. What makes that happen?
A lot of construction, for one. But also mentioned in the plan is a “meantime neighbourhood”, a temporary town centre that could be largely made from packing containers that would create an urban environment in the area to attract business investment – and people.
More bike lanes and greenery will be added around the site in preparation for the opening of the metro line between Sydney and Parramatta in 2032.
