<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>A local Australian has spent a Lower North Shore record $15.1 million at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/elevate-hume-place-crows-nest-25-hume-street-crows-nest-nsw-2065">Elevate Hume Place</a>, the new TOD above the recently opened Crows Nest Metro Station.</p>

<p>The buyer amalgamated a penthouse and sub-penthouse to create the triplex apartment that will have five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a private rooftop pool, expansive terrace, and panoramic views of Sydney Harbour and skyline. The building is being created by burgeoning developer Third.i, alongside joint venture partner Phoenix Property Investors.</p>

<p>The buyer was drawn to Elevate’s unrivalled connectivity, situated directly above the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/crows-nest-nsw-2065">Crows Nest</a> Metro Station, and the vibrant lifestyle precinct that surrounds it. The Metro connects to the CBD in just seven minutes, and Chatswood in four.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=142550 project_image_fid=309367]</p>

<p>Designed by internationally acclaimed architects <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/woods-bagot">Woods Bagot</a>, Elevate draws inspiration from the ancient blue gum forests native to the area. The building is a Net Zero development, created in consultation with Indigenous communities and exceeding sustainability benchmarks. Interiors feature chevron-engineered timber flooring, natural stone benchtops, and premium Sub-Zero Wolf appliances, delivering timeless elegance and next-level comfort.</p>

<p>The exchange of the $15.1 million apartment, follows a recent $5 million sale, and over $30 million currently in expressions of interests. Interest in Elevate’s penthouse stock has surged, reflecting a strong appetite for ultra-luxury residences that combine design excellence with unmatched connectivity.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=142550 project_image_fid=309369]</p>

<p>“We’re seeing a significant uptick in interest from local and international buyers who are prioritising connectivity, sustainability, and lifestyle,” said Callum Billinghurst, Head of Sales at Third.i Group.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“These recent sales are a testament to the vision behind Elevate. It’s not just about luxury finishes or panoramic views, it’s about creating homes that are deeply connected to the city and the community. Buyers are responding to that. They want to live somewhere that offers more than just a postcode, they want culture, convenience, and long-term value. Elevate delivers all of that, and more.”</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=142550 project_image_fid=297878]</p>

<p>As part of the Hume Place precinct, Elevate is transforming Crows Nest into Sydney’s most dynamic urban village. Elevate’s unique position directly above the metro, combined with its curated amenity offering, has made it a magnet for buyers seeking a future-proof investment and a vibrant urban lifestyle.</p>

<p>The next release at Elevate is expected later this year.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=142550]</p>


“We’re seeing a significant uptick in interest from local and international buyers who are prioritising connectivity, sustainability, and lifestyle,” said Callum Billinghurst, Head of Sales at Third.i Group


Joel Robinson

Third.i & PPI set Lower North Shore apartment record with $15.1m sale at Elevate Hume Place penthouse amalgamation

<p>Sydney developer Deicorp is set to officially open its <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/hills-showground-village-castle-hill-2-mandala-parade-castle-hill-nsw-2154">Showground Village</a> precinct in Castle Hill.</p>

<p>NSW Premier Chris Minns will attend the opening on Sunday August 31, alongside&nbsp;Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully, The Hills Shire Council Mayor Dr Michelle Byrne, Landcom CEO Alex Wendler, and Deicorp Founder Fouad Deiri.</p>

<p>Located just moments from Hills Showground Metro Station, the centre spans 9,500 sqm across four levels and features 26 specialty retailers as well as a 1,400 sqm public plaza, creating a new community meeting point for shopping, dining, fitness, and everyday convenience.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Showground Village forms part of the Hills Showground Station Precinct, an urban renewal initiative led by Landcom and Sydney Metro that will provide for around 2,300 new jobs over the next 20 years and around 9,000 new homes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Deicorp was recently approved for another new development next door to Showground Village.</p>

<p>The new five residential buildings in the East Showgrounds Precinct, will see another 873 dwellings delivered, as well as&nbsp;3,500 sqm of open public space in the form of landscaped courtyards, a public park and communal outdoor recreational space including a playground, barbeque area, and outdoor seating.</p>

<p>“This approval will allow us to start construction on a range of beautifully designed, conveniently located apartments and create another vibrant, walkable and well-connected community,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/deicorp" target="">Deicorp</a>&nbsp;Founder Fouad Deiri.</p>

<p>“These new homes will provide their residents with a seamless connection to jobs and services along Metro North West, and the new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/hills-showground-village-castle-hill-2-mandala-parade-castle-hill" target="">Hills Showground Village</a>&nbsp;retail precinct currently under construction."</p>

<p>Deicorp has several thousand apartments in planning and under construction across Sydney, from Zetland and Five Dock to Crows Nest and Macquarie Park.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=133881]</p>


Deicorp, NSW Premier officially open Showground Village, new retail and hospitality hub in Castle Hill

<p>ASX-listed developer Cedar Woods is progressing its plans for its Southbank arts precinct site.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The developer has filed plans, which are now with the&nbsp;Department of Transport and Planning, for a new 20-level tower at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/141-151-sturt-street-southbank-vic-3006">141–151 Sturt Street</a>, a 2,718 sqm block opposite the Habitat Filter sculpture.</p>

<p>The proposal seeks to demolish the two-level&nbsp;commercial building, including a small supermarket and medical tenancies, and create a new building with 180 apartments and a focus on an&nbsp;active public realm and arts integration.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Southbank site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="76a72db6-91ef-43ae-827d-a9cfa72893d2" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Site.png?VersionId=DZgtB4K6BswVh0QtCs3iLjXaLp0CbcEb" /></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>There will be a full mix of apartment configurations, including 28 studio apartments, 16 one-bedroom, 104 two-bedroom, and 32 three-bedroom units.</p>

<p>Retail, creative arts, and residential amenity functions are integrated across the lower levels. A food and drink tenancy is planned to front Dodds Street, while a retail tenancy fronting Sturt Street will be accessed via an elevated walkway. The first floor includes a substantial 734 sqm creative arts space, envisioned to support Melbourne’s growing cultural and digital industries.</p>

<p>Architecture firm <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> has put together the plans. In their&nbsp;Urban Design Report they highlighted the project’s ambition to embed itself within Southbank’s evolving cultural fabric.</p>

<p>A central feature of the design is a through-block link connecting Sturt and Dodds Streets, landscaped with native plantings and embedded with universal access ramps.</p>

<p>“The ramp has been thoughtfully integrated as the primary access point, ensuring universal accessibility for all users,” the report noted, with the link offering “a direct response to the urban planning scheme of creating more green spaces within our communities”.</p>

<p><img alt="Southbank podium" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4d24b1b2-d69c-4a11-a11d-ec6df432221c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/podium.png?VersionId=geWoJyZDmPSLODZ_.PNJ0LvpOmyyCdpo" /></p>

<p>The building’s podium form responds to the mandatory height limits along Dodds Street and maintains a fine-grain interface to adjoining developments. Above the podium, the tower is articulated with recessed balconies and a focus on views toward the CBD and surrounding arts institutions. A communal rooftop recreation deck and indoor lounge are positioned on level four, adjoining seven apartments and providing over 900 sqm of resident amenity space.</p>

<p>Vehicle access and loading will be provided via Dodds Street, with 155 resident car spaces located across two basement levels and the first three above-ground floors. Bicycle storage is more generous, with 226 spaces distributed across resident, staff and visitor needs.</p>

<p>Rothelowman describes the architecture as “humanist,” with ground-level interfaces designed to encourage social interaction and provide a dignified entry for both residents and passers-by. “All street interfaces are crafted to invite and nurture human connections,” the design report states. “The façade transitions to a human scale, providing an approachable and engaging streetscape”.</p>

<p>Cedar Woods, while well-known for its large communities it develops outside of Australia's capital cities, they have recently developed in Melbourne's inner-ring before. They are approaching completion at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-townhouses/88-leveson-north-melbourne-88-leveson-street-north-melbourne-vic-3051">88 Leveson</a>, just 15 townhouses in the heart of North Melbourne.</p>


Cedar Woods progresses with new apartment plans in Southbank arts precinct

<p>Brisbane developers Core Property Partners and Vector Property Australia has teamed up for Brisbane's newest apartment development.</p>

<p>The duo identified <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/east-brisbane-qld-4169">East Brisbane</a> as their preferred suburb, on the fringe of the Gabba Precinct, where they've just revealed BANKSII, 72 apartments opposite Raymond Park.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=136432 project_image_fid=5481]</p>

<p>The one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments will sit in a glass-wrapped building that will also feature a rooftop with an&nbsp;infinity-edge pool, a BBQ area and alfresco dining spaces, sun lounges, and a sauna, as well as a resident-only gym and a ground-floor cafe.</p>

<p>Rhett Williams, Director of Vector Property Australia, said the project will lift the quality of the East Brisbane community and set a new benchmark.</p>

<p>"In Brisbane’s current property landscape, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/banksii-east-brisbane-169-wellington-road-east-brisbane-qld-4169">BANKSII</a> stands out through its emphasis on lifestyle-oriented living, connectivity and sophisticated design," Williams says.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=136432 project_image_fid=5479]</p>

<p>The 10-level building has been designed by MAS Architecture. Their designs were inspired by the native Banksia flower, with the architecture and interiors reflecting the organic symmetry of its namesake flora. MAS has interpreted this throughout the building’s curved form, façade detailing and interior palette.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The building’s flowing geometry and natural tones are complemented by large balconies and floor-to-ceiling glazing, maximising cross-breezes, daylight and views over the city, parklands and river.</p>

<p>“Having a strong narrative for a building helps us architecturally,” MAS noted. "We can choose colours that come off that species of flowers. The trunk and the trees and the flower elements all are now visible in our joinery on the inside and in our architectural finishes on the outside."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=136432 project_image_fid=5485]</p>

<p>Apartments will feature timber floors, soft porcelain tiles, brushed bronze fittings, and stone benchtops with warm veining.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Kitchens feature premium SMEG appliances and generous storage, while bathrooms have been designed as calming retreats with curved cabinetry and twin sinks in the master ensuites.</p>

<p>The building will feature a suite of rooftop and wellness amenities. Residents will have access to an infinity-edge pool, BBQ and alfresco dining areas, sun lounges and a rooftop sauna.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A residents-only gym will be located on the podium level, while a ground-floor café and landscaped laneway will further activate the site and improve neighbourhood connectivity.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=136432 project_image_fid=5488]</p>

<p>BANKSII will rise from a prime Wellington Road site, with the building oriented to overlook the adjacent Raymond Park and take in extensive city views. It is also on the doorstep of key&nbsp;lifestyle infrastructure, including the future Kangaroo Point Green Bridge, The Gabba stadium, and the planned Brisbane Live arena.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Public transport options, including ferry, bus and rail - including the future Cross River Rail Woolloongabba station - are all nearby, supporting a car-optional lifestyle just minutes from the CBD.</p>

<p>Williams said the team spent over a year searching for the ideal site before securing this location.</p>

<p>"We were attracted to <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/east-brisbane-qld-4169">East Brisbane</a> as it is a vibrant and growing community that offers a perfect balance of urban convenience and natural beauty with the parklands and river on our doorstep.”</p>

<p>The project is part of the broader Woolloongabba Games precinct, which is undergoing significant investment in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. This urban renewal, coupled with infrastructure upgrades, is expected to enhance long-term liveability and capital growth in the area.</p>

<p>Given the wide max of configurations, BANKSII is expected to suit everyone from first home buyers and investors to families and downsizers.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=136432]</p>


BANKSII sales launch in booming East Brisbane apartment market

<p>The Minns Labor Government will deliver Sydney’s first new heavy rail station in more than a decade – enabling up to 10,000 new homes by rezoning land around Woollahra and Edgecliff stations, right next to the CBD, to tackle the housing crisis and rebalance growth across the city.</p>

<p>Recent reports by the NSW Productivity Commission have warned that Sydney is losing twice as many young people as it is gaining, while also finding that Woollahra is the most feasible Local Government Area (LGA) in New South Wales to build new housing.</p>

<p>Despite this, housing approvals in Woollahra consistently lag well behind other LGAs, and the population has declined by 11 per cent over the past 50 years while Greater Sydney as a whole has grown by 74 per cent.</p>

<p>The new station that will be an eight-minute trip from Sydney CBD, will be located on the Eastern Suburbs train line in Woollahra, where a station build was started in the 1970s but never completed.</p>

<p>To enable the delivery of new homes the NSW Government will lead a rezoning of Woollahra and Edgecliff stations similar to other state led rezonings to allow additional homes to be built around the stations.</p>

<p>Affordable housing will also make up a proportion of development on the site with the final amount of affordable housing required, to be determined as part of the rezoning process.</p>

<p>The area surrounding the new station is within walking distance of major green and recreational space including Cooper, Trumper, Rushcutters Bay and Centennial Parks.</p>

<p>The Eastern Suburbs train line between Bondi Junction and Sydney CBD also has the lowest passenger usage rates during the AM peak of any line on the Sydney network, with only 43 per cent of operating capacity during the AM peak currently being utilised by passengers.</p>

<p>Sydney Water and Infrastructure NSW have confirmed there is capacity in the water and wastewater systems to accommodate the proposed 10,000 dwellings without major upgrades.</p>

<p>The rezoning is expected to take around two years and will further support the Government’s housing targets that rebalance the delivery of new homes around existing infrastructure.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Next stop Woollahra train station - delivering up to 10,000 new homes in the heart of Sydney

Westconnex

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<p>Work on the new M4 tunnels from Homebush to Haberfield is almost complete with the project set to open in around four months.</p>
<p>The project is expected to taking around 10,000 trucks off Parramatta Road every day.</p>
<p>Premier Gladys Berejikilian and Minister for Roads Andrew Constance toured the nearly-completed M4 tunnels today, part of a seven kilometre section of WestConnex.</p>
<p>Berejikilian said the new M4 tunnels, themselves 5.5km long, would allow drivers from Western Sydney to bypass a significant section of stop-start traffic on Parramatta Road, and instead connect directly onto the City West Link.</p>
<p>“Within two years, around 67,000 trips are expected in the M4 tunnels every day, and this is still just the first stage of WestConnex,” Berejiklian said.</p>
<p>“Today we’ve seen first-hand that the tunnelling and road pavement for the long promised project has been completed. We are on the home straight for the new M4 tunnels, with fit-out of the tunnels now underway.”</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2019/4/11/Stage%201.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p>Constance thanked the communities of the Inner West for their patience while the work was undertaken.</p>
<p>“We appreciate the delivery of city-shaping infrastructure takes time, and it isn’t easy on those who live nearby. I look forward to the new M4 tunnels opening soon and taking thousands of vehicles off local roads,” Constance said.</p>
<p>Berejiklian said WestConnex will link Sydney’s west and southwest with the city,airport and port precinct in more than 30 kilometres of continuous motorway.</p>
<p>Upon completion, WestConnex will provide a bypass of up to 52 sets of traffic lights.</p>
<p>“Once all of WestConnex is complete in 2023, drivers will be able to get from Penrith to the Anzac Bridge without having to stop at a single traffic light and travel times from Parramatta to Sydney Airport will fall by up to 40 minutes. Traffic volumes on sections of Parramatta Road will also be reduced by more than 50 per cent,” Berejiklian said.</p>
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

New M4 tunnels one step closer to completion 

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<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
<p>The ASX-listed residential developer Desane has won its court battle against the NSW government's proposed low value compulsory acquisition of its development site in Rozelle for the construction of the WestConnex motorway.</p>
<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
<p>Justice Hammerschlag ruled the government's notice to acquire Desane's development site at 68-72 Lilyfield Road in Rozelle had no statutory effect.</p>
<p>"<span>Compulsory acquisition of private property is no light matter. </span></p>
<p><span>"Complying with the requirements of s 15 is not a matter of difficulty, and it is not too much to ask of an authority of State given power to interfere with such rights," the judge ruled.</span></p>
<p>Desane will keep the land to progress the residential development of its $100 million 200-apartment project, its chairman Professor John Sheehan advised.</p>
</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
<p data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-7770372_137="26656" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-7770372_137="4000" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-7770372_137="1">"I refer to Darryl Kerrigan in the movie The Castle," Professor Sheehan said after the court judgement.</p>
<p data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-7770372_137="26656" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-7770372_137="4000" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-7770372_137="1">"The court basically threw out the case."</p>
<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
<p>"They were being mean and tricky and trying to steal the property from us. They conveniently overlooked the LEP [Local Environmental Plan]."</p>
<p>Click here <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2018/5/1/west-connex.jpg" target="_blank">to enlarge.</a></p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/5/1/west-connex.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p>"The bigger picture is that is is simply due to cost overruns, and the government is looking at value capture," he added.</p>
<p>They will acquire some sites on the fringe and get a development application... to offset the cost overrun," he said.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">"It begs the question why some of these properties on the edge of infrastructure projects are being acquired," he told The Australian Financial Review adding that evidence revealed that the site was merely being considered for a car park.</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"> </div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">“From day one, Desane questioned the true purpose of RMS’ proposed acquisition of our Rozelle property”, Professor Sheehan officially advised shareholders his ASX notification.</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<p><span>“We are pleased that Justice Hammerschlag has found that the PAN issued by RMS was of no effect.”</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
<p data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-7770372_137="15628" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-7770372_137="4000" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-7770372_137="1">"If a land owner compulsorily to be dispossessed is entitled to know precisely what the land is needed for a public purpose, that entitlement must stem from elsewhere," Justice Hammerschlag said in his judgment.</p>
<p>"If there is no such entitlement, the land owner might never learn why his land is to be taken, an outcome which would be dissonant with the right in point of justice [articulated by Dixon CJ]."</p>
</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">"I conclude that the proposed acquisition notice of no statutory effect for failure to state the public purpose for which the property is to be acquired."</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"> </div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">Late last year the Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered a mediation with the NSW government and various government agencies related to their proposed compulsory acquisition of the developer’s site in Sydney’s Rozelle.</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span> </span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">The NSW state government and the Roads &amp; Maritime Services were ordered by the NSW Supreme Court to disclose documents justifying the compulsory acquisition.
</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"> </div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">Desane Properties Pty Ltd was represented in the proceedings by the Honourable Ron Merkel QC, David Pritchard, SC, and Stewart Levitt of Levitt Robinson Solicitors.</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"> </div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span>RMS had throughout known that Desane wished to negotiate a solution which obviated the necessity for the permanent taking of the whole of the property.</span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span> </span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span>His honour noted what appeared to be the most developed plan at the time of the PAN shows only a use of a sliver of the property for a utilities corridor. </span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span> </span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span>"An easement would no doubt have sufficed to achieve this requirement absent the parkland commitment," Justice Hammerschlag ruled. </span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span> </span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span>"The same can be said of any works deep beneath the property.</span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span> </span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span>"In my view, it is improbable that RMS would have sought to acquire the entirety of the property (which it currently values at over $20 million) where only a sliver of it would be used, but for its open space and green parkland purpose."</span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"><span><span> </span></span></div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">
<span><span><span>His Honour noted "i</span></span></span>n contrast to its somewhat amorphous purpose for acquiring the property to be used as a construction site, from at least 21 July 2016 RMS has had the unqualified and fixed purpose to acquire the Property to provide 10 hectares of open space and green parkland as publicly committed to by the Government</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">.</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">"The PAN was given to effectuate that purpose.</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"> </div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">"That purpose is ulterior to the purpose for which the PAN could properly have been given," he ruled.</div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section"> </div>
<div class="cq-article-content-media section">"<span>It will be an abuse of RMS’ powers if the ulterior purpose is a substantial purpose in the sense that no attempt would have been made to acquire the land if it had not been desired to achieve the unauthorised purpose."</span>
</div>
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Desane's Darryl Kerrigan wins case against low value Westconnex compulsory acquisition by NSW Government

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<p>Citizen engagement is, or should be, central to city planning. When it comes to planning and implementing transport infrastructure the focus tends to be on how to engage the public, when to engage, and what form this should take. But we should be asking another, more important question: how can citizen engagement make infrastructure planning more democratic?</p>
<p>In many cases proposed transport infrastructure and the conflicts and debates it provokes are actually about much more than the project proposal. If the project is a new light rail system, for instance, the questions are: Who and what will it serve? What will it look like? And what impacts (positive and negative) will it have on the city over time?</p>
<p>Any efforts then to reduce citizen participation, to stifle the question “What kind of city do we want to be?”, will meet with resistance.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://government.unimelb.edu.au/news-and-events/news/university-of-melbourne-launches-next-generation-engagement-project" target="_blank">academic</a> and <a href="http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/policy-publications/publications/future-cities.aspx" target="_blank">government</a> projects and reports on citizen participation and infrastructure planning have called on our governments to do three things:</p>
<ol>
<li>consult and engage citizens early in infrastructure planning</li>
<li>improve quality and access of citizen engagement at the strategic planning stages</li>
<li>use more sophisticated strategic planning tools and practices to improve decision-making.</li>
</ol>
<p>However, a key challenge, as echoed in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/ITC/DevelopmentofCities/Submissions" target="_blank">submissions</a> to a current parliamentary <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/ITC/DevelopmentofCities" target="_blank">inquiry into city development</a>, is the disconnect between <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/cities-need-data-not-more-stakeholder-consultation-sap-20180226-h0wnvm" target="_blank">citizen participation and decision-making</a>. To overcome this disconnect, early consultation and new participation platforms are critical. Yet these alone cannot resolve this problem.</p>
<h2>How does democracy come into this?</h2>
<p>Engaging citizens in a meaningful way in infrastructure planning is good and necessary for many reasons. That we live in a country that purports to be a democracy is central to that argument. But there are other reasons too. These include the potential to make decisions that better respond to citizens’ needs and desires.</p>
<p>Another reason that often goes unstated is that infrastructure is a public thing. Whether it is ultimately publicly or privately owned, operated and controlled, there is a relationship between infrastructure and democracy that ultimately makes infrastructure planning and implementation a contested process. Savvy consultation does not alter this fact.</p>
<p>As the political scientist Bonnie Honig recently <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=k0JdDgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA5&amp;dq=interpellate+us+into+democratic+citizenship&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj71aTu8-rZAhVKe7wKHdRyCoYQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&amp;q=interpellate%20us%20into%20democratic%20citizenship&amp;f=false" target="_blank">argued</a> in her book, Public Things: Democracy in disrepair:</p>
<p>Public things [such as infrastructure] are part of the ‘holding environment’ of democratic citizenship; they furnish the world of democratic life … They also constitute us, complement us, limit us, and interpellate us into democratic citizenship.</p>
<p>Since 2013 I have researched citizen participation in infrastructure planning. The focus has been on multi-billion-dollar, transformational urban transport infrastructure proposals in Australian and Canadian cities.</p>
<p>My primary focus has been on projects such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/east-west-link-shows-miserable-failure-of-planning-process-40232" target="_blank">East-West Link</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/transurbans-west-gate-tollway-is-a-road-into-uncharted-territory-89164" target="_blank">West Gate Tunnel</a> in Melbourne, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/westconnex-audit-offers-another-17b-lesson-in-how-not-to-fund-infrastructure-73206" target="_blank">Westconnex</a> in Sydney (working with <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/glen-searle-103536" target="_blank">Glen Searle</a>). But my interest is not in contested tollway projects alone. I also examined the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/transit-referendum-voters-say-no-to-new-metro-vancouver-tax-transit-improvements-1.3134857" target="_blank">2015 Vancouver plebiscite on transit funding</a>, and the rollout of two light rail projects in the Greater <a href="http://www.metrolinx.com/en/greaterregion/projects/hurontario-lrt.aspx" target="_blank">Toronto</a> and <a href="http://www.metrolinx.com/en/greaterregion/projects/hamilton-lrt.aspx" target="_blank">Hamilton</a> Area (GTHA) in Canada.</p>
<p>Research of this kind into cross-city, cross-country and cross-modal (road and public transport) transit systems produces insights into the relationship between citizen participation and infrastructure planning. It makes visible both party-political and socio-political struggles for the present and future city, which infrastructure – be that a major road or a light rail system – often represents.</p>
<p>Transport infrastructure awakens controversy because these projects embody the debates that frame who we are as a group of people living in a city.</p>
<h2>A process of sidelining the citizens</h2>
<p>The question of what kind of city we want to be is often left to strategic planning. However, this question needs to remain at the forefront of decision-making in project planning too.</p>
<p>Take the cancellation of the East-West Link project. You would be excused for assuming that this cancellation, following the election of the current Victorian government in 2014, was a rejection of inner-city toll roads and a “roads must be built to tackle congestion” paradigm.</p>
<p>But weeks later the government announced the now A$6.7 billion West Gate Tunnel project. This announcement was met with similar concerns to those raised against the East-West Link. These centred on the very undemocratic processes that produced these projects in the first place.</p>
<p>Another key concern was about the efficacy of building tollways when other valued alternatives such as public transport are not only available but also desired. Indeed, these are set out as ambitions for the future city in a succession of metropolitan plans.</p>
<p>In the weeks and months after the West Gate Tunnel announcement, a community liaison group and then a public process of evaluating the environmental effects were organised. This did result in some design modifications. However, this was a process about how best to manage out conflict and limit engagement to questions about design.</p>
<p>This is common practice for transport infrastructure planning across Australia. It it is not what can be reasonably called “best practice” in citizen engagement.</p>
<p>The lack of transparency and carefully controlled consultation remove the publicness of infrastructure.</p>
<h2>Market-led planning and its impacts</h2>
<p>The West Gate Tunnel is a case study in both market-led planning and how these processes can be an assault on democratic, participatory planning. These proposals and other public-private partnership schemes continue to be devised, as seen recently with a proposed “<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/future-melbourne/tech-giants-push-for-piece-of-30bn-super-city-in-east-werribee/news-story/51e77278242514b23567bf6b9e00050c" target="_blank">super city</a>” in East Werribee.</p>
<p>It’s clear more needs to be said about the links between citizen participation and infrastructure planning in this context. To design better citizen consultation is to better understand what galvanises citizen interest and protest.</p>
<p>It is more than just the project. It is what the project represents. In many cases, it is a departure from a clearly stated vision for the city.</p>
<p>Our ability as citizens to assert what is in the public interest – throughout the infrastructure planning process – can be further severed when unsolicited proposals become commonplace.</p>
<h2>A way forward</h2>
<p>A recent alliance between the Coalition and the Greens in the upper house <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/tools-down-at-west-gate-tunnel-after-liberals-greens-halt-6-7b-dud-20180307-p4z3am" target="_blank">revoked the West Gate Tunnel planning amendment</a>. It’s a reminder that any planning process that undermines inclusive citizen participation and ignores the publicness of infrastructure planning will meet with resistance. Westconnex, the East-West Link, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/roe-8-34736" target="_blank">Roe8</a> in Perth, and now the West Gate Tunnel are all examples of this.</p>
<p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92840/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">Infrastructure cannot be divorced from the city and its citizens. But as long as citizen engagement is limited, infrastructure will be a hotly contested area of decision-making.</p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/crystal-legacy-18412" target="_blank">Crystal Legacy</a>, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne-722" target="_blank">University of Melbourne</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sidelining-citizens-when-deciding-on-transport-projects-is-asking-for-trouble-92840" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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Citizens should be included when deciding on transport projects

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<p>Long-time owners of two sites in Sydney's Rozelle are preparing to fight the NSW government's compulsory acquisition of their land for the WestConnex motorway project.</p>
<p>The two sites at 92-94 Lilyfield Road and 80-84 Lilyfield Road are next to ASX-listed developer Desane's landholding at 68-72 Lilyfield Road which is currently contesting their resumption in the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>The pending battles concern timber and hardware company Swadlings and the crane business Gillespies.</p>
<p>The combined Swadlings and Gillespies sites of nearly 6500 square metres can yield about 200 apartments.</p>
<p>The companies took their fight to <a href="https://twitter.com/Ross_Greenwood?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank">Ross Greenwood at Channel 9 News</a>.</p>
<p>Like Desane, both groups had sought a masterplan residential rezoning of the land with the NSW Department of Planning which was abandoned when the Roads and Maritime Services ordered the compulsory acquisition last September.</p>
<p>The RMS wanted the land for "a staging area for trucks and equipment", they said. They had a potential buyer who was prepared to pay $24 million for the sites and provide a timely relocation. The government offered them less than $3 million and the companies would have to fork out their own relocation costs.</p>
<p>"The Planning Department was attempting to adopt a well thought out masterplan approach but RMS came over the top and usurped this approach with its resumption of land," a Swadlings spokesman told Fairfax Media. </p>
<p>"There was also a delay in the rezoning application process ahead of the compulsory acquisition of the property.</p>
<p>"If Swadlings cannot get a fair and reasonable outcome in the current discussions it will be forced to pursue every possible legal avenue."</p>
<p>Swadlings is a 100-year-old family business, said it was "watching closely the outcome of the Desane court case".</p>
<p>The RMS said both the sites were required for M4-M5 Link Rozelle Interchange.</p>
<p>"These properties were compulsorily acquired last September with the Valuer General determining the compensation in line with the Land Acquisitions (Just Terms Compensation) Act," a spokesman said.</p>
<p>"The M4-M5 Link Environmental Impact Statement shows the land as required for a temporary construction and tunnelling site, and at the project's completion will be returned to the community as part of up to 10 hectares of open green space."</p>
<p>The NSW government had taken steps to compulsorily acquire the inner city residential land owned by ASX-listed developer Desane for the WestConnex motorway project, even though it had no firm plans to use it for the project, a NSW court has heard.</p>
<p>Desane has fought the compulsory acquisition of its landholding at 68-72 Lilyfield Road in Rozelle – an area earmarked for residential development and mixed use urban renewal – since August.</p>
<p>After mediations with the government fell through to consider a lease of the land or alternatives, Desane started proceedings at the Supreme Court of NSW last Monday.</p>
<p>During a cross-examination, former Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) project director Daniel Powrie, who was involved in the third stage of the project, told the court motorway plans showed Desane's site "was not impacted", that is, not required for tunnelling.</p>
<p>The government had earlier said the site would be used as a "car park" for staff.</p>
<p>Desane's site could yield a $100 million 200-apartment project.</p>
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Rozelle site owners battle WestConnex compulsory acquisitions

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<p>Desane Properties Pty Limited, an entity of ASX-listed Desane Group Holdings Limited, has announced that the Supreme Court of New South Wales had ordered a mediation with the NSW government and various government agencies related to their proposed compulsory acquisition of the developer’s site in Sydney’s Rozelle.</p>
<p>The court had in September asked the state government and Roads and Maritime Services to disclose documents justifying the compulsory acquisition of Desane’s residential development site for the WestConnex project.</p>
<p>The 5,275 sqm property is located at 68‐72 Lilyfield Road.</p>
<p>Justice Hammerschlag of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, ordered that the parties be referred to mediation on December 20 before The Honourable Michael Hudson McHugh AC QC.</p>
<p>Desane chairman, Professor John Sheehan, welcomed the court order and expressed hopes for an agreement with the New South Wales government, Roads and Maritime Services and Sydney Motorway Corporation Pty Limited.</p>
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