One of the most contentious aspects of the Barangaroo precinct in Sydney is the Crown Casino hotel complex – which in its planned form looks kinda like a gigantic crystal dildo jutting from the harbour foreshore. It’d be a very tall building and Sydney City Council is thoroughly not keen on it.
The council’s chief planner Graham Jahn says that the tower will “dominate and overwhelm” the Barangaroo precinct and the harbour foreshore, and reckons that a casino shouldn’t be able to form such a huge intrusion on Sydney Harbour.
Though the project received some support from the city, such as from Liberal councillor Christine Forster, who described it as “big, bold and beautiful”, the general vibe wasn’t positive. Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich said that there was a strong sense in the community that there wasn’t a whole lot of concern from Packer and co for anything but private profits.
This doesn’t mean they’re not pro-development, the anti-tower crowd reckon. They think a hotel complex on the foreshore is fine. They’re just a little concerned about the sheer size of the thing.
Half of the tower’s 69 floors are watermarked for use as luxury apartments and a VIP gaming facility. The argument from Sydders is that while giving international big rollers a better view of the Opera House is nice and all, it’s not worth sacrificing the public use case for the peninsula.
The NSW president of the Australian Institute of Architects, told Fairfax that people would prefer a park to an enormous casino tower. “What would history think of us all here today, if we chose a casino over a public park for this significant place on the harbour?”
It’s just the latest in the fairly enormous shitfight that is the Barangaroo development.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Lend Lease.
