CL….. CITY DEVELOPMENT
ATTACHMENT 3
Granville Town Centre Study
Schedule for further integration and consultation
Schedule for further integration and consultationTo improve the quality of the public spaces, it will be necessary to enable development that both increases the population in the town centre and helps pay for the upgrades. Many of the ideas presented in the Precinct Plan have merit, however, more consideration needs to be given to determining how feasible the ideas are and how they could work together to form a cohesive Granville Town Centre.
To work towards revitalisation of Granville Town Centre, the following tasks are proposed:
1. Prioritisation of Community Asset Improvements
a. Community consultation to provide input into prioritisation of community asset improvements, Aug – Oct 2006
Detailed costing of proposals prioritised in community consultation process
b. Determine potential staging of community asset improvements based on the results of community consultation and costing of proposals.
c. Consultation with State government agencies regarding feasibility of traffic and transport and environmental rehabilitation improvements
d. Information obtained through consultation and research to be considered in the development of Council’s Implementation Plan for Parramatta Twenty25, late 2007
2. Review of demographic data, growth projections and analyses of market trends to be incorporated into RDS work planned to be reported to Council Nov 2006.
3. Development of Planning Provisions to support the vision – planned to report to Council in Nov 2006.
4. Evaluation of consultation process for development of future consultation in other areas.
5. Identification of opportunities for partnerships (ongoing)
6. Community Consultation regarding zonings to occur as part of RDS process, tentatively scheduled for April/May 2007. Final date dependent on gazettal of draft plan by NSW State Government.
NB. The NSW State Government has tentatively advised that it will be exhibiting an Overview of the Parramatta Road Corridor Structure Plan in August 2006, however this date has not been confirmed. It is proposed that when this Plan is made public analysis of its recommendations are undertaken to ensure integration with other relevant plans.
Background
Community Asset Improvements
Public Domain and Community Facilities
The Precinct Study suggests a large number of improvements to help create a safe and vibrant town centre. These include new public squares, a whole street (Mary Street) realigned and designed primarily for pedestrian use, an outdoor dining laneway and widened footpaths to support outdoor dining. In addition, the “Community Hub” is proposed as a central public building with markets and a range of community facilities. Further, upgrades are proposed to the railway concourse and expansion and environmental improvements are proposed for open space areas.
The works proposed would require considerable capital investment from Council, State government and private organisations and an initial rough costing of the works suggests that upwards of $64 million would be required just to enable upgrades within the town centre itself. Carrying out all the proposed works at once would clearly not be possible as Council does not have the financial capacity to fund these works on its own. Further, beginning all upgrade works at once would not be viable for the community as the disruption would be too great.
Consultation at this stage is therefore desirable to determine community priorities for the area and to determine how to stage its approach to revitalisation of the area in a manner that is appropriate to the needs and wants of the local residents. In doing so, it will be necessary to ensure that the community is made aware of the long term and conceptual nature of the proposals contained within the Precinct Study.
Traffic and transport upgrades
The Revitalised Granville Town Centre Precinct Study also provides a response to the traffic and transport analysis included in a report prepared by consultants Glazebrook & Associates, entitled “Granville Town Centre Traffic and Transport Report”. The Precinct Study envisages changes to ensure:
§ traffic not serving the Granville Town Centre will use the M4 Motorway and other major distributor roads;
§ safe and easy access to and exit from the town centre by all modes of transport and pedestrians;
§ walking, cycling and use of public transport are encouraged;
§ the adverse effects of private transport are minimised;
§ the local road network will support proposed future development; and
§ parking and loading areas do not compromise pedestrian safety.
The specific traffic and transport proposals, which include changes to the M4 Motorway, Parramatta Rd, public transport, the pedestrian and cycle network and public parking, are detailed in the Study. Some of these proposals would be dependant on State government agreement and funding.
Council’s notional costing of the Precinct Plan works program indicate that carrying out the full proposal could cost Council some $64 million. Should the proposals be considered appropriate for Granville, Council will need to determine how it could fund the shortfall in the cost of the public domain improvements that developer contributions would not cover.
Environmental Rehabilitation
The Precinct Study proposes a program of environmental rehabilitation. Perhaps the most significant proposal relates to the rehabilitation of Duck Creek. A detailed study, in association with Sydney Water is required to determine the level of rehabilitation potential for Duck Creek and establish a funding strategy for its staged rehabilitation.
Review of Demographic Data
Since the initial demographic analysis was completed more recent information has become available. The housing market across Sydney has also continued to slow. It will be important to ensure that any proposed planning changes take into consideration this new information.
Planning
Under the present review of the Parramatta RDS, Council is integrating where and how housing growth should be accommodated. The plan for Granville needs, therefore, to carefully examine how planning provisions such as zoning, height and floor space ratio could be used to help accommodate a share of the expected population increase for the Local Government Area.
The Study proposes to allow two different height standards in the Granville Town Centre – a maximum of two storeys or a maximum of four. However, the Study also appears to contradict this by suggesting that parts of the “maximum four storey” buildings could be six storey (fronting Parramatta Road) and that a series of twelve storey towers would be needed (primarily between the rail line and Parramatta Road).
Another significant planning change proposed in the Precinct Study is the merging of several zones (Neighbourhood business, Centre Business, Employment and Residential) into a single Mixed Use zone. The extent of this single zone, as proposed in the Precinct Study, is considerable, the full implications of this need to be carefully analysed.
Further to this, it will be necessary to ensure that zones applied to the Granville Town Centre are consistent with those specified in the recently gazetted LEP template.
More work is required to refine the urban design vision into a realistic development control framework. The final draft zoning, height, FSR and other standards and controls for Granville Town Centre are planned to be reported to Council in November in the context of the LGA-wide RDS process.
Partnerships Implementation Plan
The Precinct Plan suggests a large number of improvements to help create a safe and vibrant town centre. These include new public squares, a whole street (Mary Street) realigned and designed primarily for pedestrian use, an outdoor dining laneway and widened footpaths to support outdoor dining. In addition, the “Community Hub” is proposed as a central public building with markets and a range of community facilities. Further, upgrades are proposed to the railway concourse and expansion and environmental improvements are proposed for open space areas.
The works proposed would require considerable capital investment from Council, State government and private organisations and an initial rough costing of the works suggests that upwards of $64 million would be required just to enable upgrades within the town centre itself. Carrying out all the proposed works at once would clearly not be possible as Council does not have the financial capacity to fund these works on its own. Further, beginning all upgrade works at once would not be viable for the community as the disruption would be too great.
Consultation at this stage is therefore desirable to determine community priorities for the area and to determine how to stage its approach to revitalisation of the area in a manner that is appropriate to the needs and wants of the local residents. In doing so, it will be necessary to ensure that the community is made aware of the long term nature of the proposals and that the present revitalisation plans are conceptual.
Research and consultation will also be necessary to ensure that each element of the Plan to be implemented will be the successful, vibrant space envisioned. It will be particularly important to recognise that urban design for the Granville Town Centre must be specific to the area and the people who live and work in it and that it may not be appropriate to copy urban spaces that have been successful elsewhere.
It would also be advisable to consider a range of solutions to issues such as safety, useability and appearance of the area and to involve the community both in generating ideas for these and in determining the outcomes.
To work towards revitalisation of Granville Town Centre, the following tasks are proposed:
§ Community consultation undertaken in stages between August and October, to provide input into
- proposals for improvements such as safety enhancements, location of community facilities, traffic and transport,
- prioritisation of public amenity improvements,
identifying opportunities for partnershipsurban design proposals.
§ Detailed costing of proposals – [dates?].
§ Review of demographic data, growth projections and analyses of market trends.
§ Determine appropriate staging of upgrades based on the results of the community consultation and costing of proposals. – [dates?].
§ Identify opportunities for partnerships (ongoing).
Urban design work– [dates?].
Report to Council…
Traffic and Transport
The Precinct Plan proposes a range of transport improvements, including changes to roads, parking, pedestrian and bicycle networks and public transport. It will be necessary to discuss many of these concepts with State government agencies to determine their feasibility, both in terms of traffic / transport impacts and cost.
In addition, a primary proposal in the Precinct Plan is that a significant proportion of parking be located underground. This will need to be tested with the community and considered in terms of cost and safety.
It is proposed that impact assessment and discussions about feasibility take place between [dates…].
Whilst some community consultation has occurred in the development of both Parramatta Twenty25 and the RDS, ongoing participation and involvement of the community and stakeholders will be required to ensure any plans for Granville Town Centre remain responsive and up to date.
It is critical that ongoing partnerships are developed to work on common actions. Through shared resources and common objectives it will be possible to achieve greater synergies and value for money, stronger integration and a shared response to the implementation of actions within Granville Town Centre.
G:\Docs\LivingstoneL\Granville Town Centre\Comments re Attachment 1 GRANVILLE TOWN CENTRE.doc