Greens win fight to protect public land from for-profit development in Newcastle and Wollongong
Public land, including the hockey fields at Broadmeadow in Newcastle and the waterfront training oval next to WIN Stadium in Wollongong, will be off-limits to property developers thanks to successful Greens amendments to a Labor government bill.
The government brought legislation to completely remove restrictions that prevent development of residential or visitor accommodation on public land owned by Venues NSW in Parramatta, Penrith, Newcastle and Wollongong, despite opposing a similar move by the former Liberal/National government in 2020.
The successful Greens amendment limits that development to what has been communicated with and supported by local communities.
In Newcastle, the Broadmeadow Place Strategy supports a hotel adjacent to McDonald Jones Stadium on land that is currently car parking.
In Wollongong, the exhibited concept plans for the WIN Stadium redevelopment do not include any apartment or hotel development on public land.
Dr Cohn told NSW Parliament: “Public land should be for community use, not for developer profits. This bill is a gift to property developers and flagrant privatisation of public land, something the Minns Labor government claims to oppose.”
“Even more concerningly, the bill permits far more than what the Government has told the community. When we spoke with local communities, we heard that they had either been misled or not consulted on what these changes really mean for their sporting venues and green spaces.”
The Minns Labor Government opposed the Greens amendments, despite the changes reflecting their own public-facing development plans. The opposition and crossbench in the NSW upper house voted in support of the Greens amendment.
Local Greens councillors from both affected areas welcomed the change.
Newcastle Councillor Joel Pringle said that changes at Broadmeadow should reinforce the Place Strategy, not undermine it.
“The Knights training grounds and the hockey centre have just been saved from the state government's attempt to develop them for apartments,” he said. “Continued sports use is consistent with the plan for the area, which has been backed by our local communities.”
Wollongong councillor Kit Docker said that good decisions about community land always start with listening to the community.
“Any changes to the intended use of this land should only occur after genuine community consultation, particularly where private developers stand to benefit from legislative changes that would allow hotels and apartments to be built on public land,” Cr Docker said.
Read Dr Cohn’s parliamentary speech on the bill here and to the successful amendment here. Audiovisual of these speeches available upon request.