Pyrmont Progress

Q. Why produce Creating a neighbourhood village – A strategy for Pyrmont towards 2015?

A. Pyrmont has suffered from piecemeal plans by different authorities and from piecemeal implementation of those plans. A strategy sets out the long term vision and goals and those things that must change to attain the vision. Adoption of a strategy helps ensure that we have holistic plans and are working towards achieving the vision in a systematic and purposeful way.

This approach will also help other government bodies to meet infrastructure and transport needs (for example, ferry services). We don’t want “band aid” planning.

Q. Does adoption of a strategy mean that the Pyrmont community is asking for more than its fair share of resources to the detriment of other communities?

A. If anything it should mean the opposite. A strategy and a well thought out implementation plan should result in better use of resources for better results, because working towards an agreed strategy helps decision-makers to make better decisions.

Q. But the strategy is prepared by Pyrmont Progress Incorporated. Does this mean that PPI “owns” the strategy or that the contents do not reflect the wider community needs?

A. PPI definitely does not “own” the strategy. The strategy follows a widely recognised format for strategic plans. PPI adopted this format. The contents is another matter. The contents are definitely not PPI’s plans for Pyrmont’s future. PPI took great pains through public workshops to engage the wider community in the process of setting a vision for Pyrmont’s future, identifying issues to be addressed, and spelling out the community needs and aspirations.

So far as is possible this process through public workshops etc. has engaged the broader community, rather than any sectional interests. The needs and aspirations expressed through this participative approach make it a Pyrmont strategy, not the possession of any single individual or group. PPI will continue, so far as it is possible, to work at the grass-roots level with the community.

Q. What will happen to the strategy?

A. The community cannot implement a strategy on its own. The strategy has been formally submitted to City of Sydney Council which will consider it in the light of its policy, resource availability and timing, and wider issues such as those involving the State government and its instrumentalities.

Fortunately, the vision expressed for Pyrmont is consistent with the City of Sydney Council strategy for a global city comprising distinct villages, so we can look forward to an implementation plan consistent with the needs and aspirations expressed in the Pyrmont strategy.

Q. What should happen right away?

A. The strategy recommends the appointment by the City of Sydney Council of a Place Manager for Pyrmont. This gives a focus for a unified and forward-looking approach to an overall plan for Pyrmont, rather than having to deal with different departments within Council, as has been necessary in the past. The strategy also identifies some dangerous traffic issues that are an obvious problem and should be resolved immediately.