City News

Artists’ studios

Temporary and permanent artist studios, rehearsal spaces and galleries will be investigated for unused areas in libraries, town halls and community centres under a City plan to enhance creative opportunities. We are assessing an initiative by Frasers Property which has turned a part of the Carlton United Breweries (CUB) site into temporary studios for artists. This could be a model for our own sites.

Priority locations under investigation for creative workspaces and galleries include the Riley Street Depot at Woolloomooloo, Waterloo Library, the Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator at Glebe, Bellevue House at Glebe and the former Taylor Square Toilets at Darlinghurst. The City supports arts and cultural organisations with our Grants and Sponsorship Program worth $4.5 million each year. For updates on new studio spaces visit cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Everyone welcome in our parks

The City encourages and supports responsible pet ownership. There are 350 parks in the LGA, with 33 off-leash at all times. City Rangers and our Companion Animal Officer assist us in monitoring animal behaviour and educating people about responsible pet ownership. Our public parks belong to everybody and are there to be shared by people of all interests and ages, including pet owners. Our free dog obedience classes which run for six weeks starting 28 February are booked out, to enrol in our 9 May courses call 9265 9333. For information visit cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/animals

New Playground for children of all abilities

The City recently celebrated the opening of a state-of-the-art All-Abilities
Playground at Sydney Park, St Peters. The new playground is designed to provide a range of interactive and sensory play opportunities for children, including those in wheelchairs and with hearing and sight impairments. The playground includes a large
sand pit; a sensory maze of perfumed, flowering and tactile plants; an interactive sun dial; movement triggered sound posts; a musical foot bridge; and an overlay of alphabet signs that show letters and words in tactile English, Braille and Auslan. The City has also completed work in the surrounding Village Green area, including shade plants and new grass, as well as improvements to pathways and new lighting. Community input in March 2007 helped guide the design for the playground, with local students and teachers also contributing.

Streetscape upgrades

The City is continuing to create a more liveable city with improvements to main streets within the City villages. The revitalisation of Harris Street, Ultimo begins in February and will focus on the area around the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre, the Pyrmont Village and Union Square. Works include footpath widening, new paving for outdoor dining areas, street furniture, smart poles, undergrounding of ugly power lines, decorative lighting, bicycle racks and a new community bus drop-off zone. Work on the Glebe Point Road upgrade is almost complete. Improvements include burying powerlines, new stormwater infrastructure, public art and street landscaping and beautification.

Turrawul Park

Residents were recently invited to attend celebrations for the opening of the renewed Turruwul Park, Rosebery. City improvements include a new playground, new paths, bicycle track, picnic shelter, park furniture, lighting and additional trees.

Sporting facilities and amenities have also been improved with buildings designed for environmental sensitivity, incorporating solar panels and water efficient fittings.

 

Earth Hour

Having already gone global last year, Earth Hour 2009 will aim to reach more than one billion people in 1,000 cities around the world. Initiated in Sydney by WWF-Australia – with the support of the City of Sydney and The Sydney Morning Herald – as a campaign to reduce energy consumption, the event has grown into a worldwide movement to promote awareness of climate change.

You can participate by turning off your lights for one hour at 8.30pm on Saturday 28 March. For information visit earthhour.org

Mardi Gras 09

The 31st Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras celebrates the GLBT community, and the City of Sydney is again proud to be a major partner of this iconic event. Mardi Gras celebrations will culminate in the Parade on 7 March. The City float promotes
the official parade theme of “Nations United”.

The City is again contributing $120,000 in cash and approximately $150,000 in value-in-kind. A number of smaller community grants have also been provided to organisations putting on events as part of the festival. For information visit mardigras.org.au

City Talks

Free City Talks aim to stimulate discussion on urban issues and environment. At our next City Talk, New York City Commissioner of Transportation Janette Sadik-Khan (via video presentation) and Professor Peter Newman from Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy Institute will address the topic of Sustainable Streets: Parallel Cities - New York & Sydney. Commissioner Sadik-Khan has helped car-choked New York reclaim space for pedestrians and cyclists. Professor Newman’s work in Australia has focused on alternative options to driving.

Following their presentations, Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP and Professor Peter Newman will be joined on a discussion panel by Libby Darlison, the Chair of the Premier’s Council for Active Living and Alex Unwin, CEO of Bicycle NSW.

Join Lord Mayor Clover Moore and guest speakers on Wednesday 25 March at the State Theatre, from 6.30pm – 8.00pm. Tickets are
free and bookings essential. For information visit cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/whatson

Enlivening city laneways

The first Laneways Business Development Grant has been awarded by Council, along with new Community, Local Action Plan and Community Festival grants worth $260,000. Small Bar Pty Ltd on Sussex Lane in the CBD received a $20,000 grant from the program to enliven our laneways.

The City is working with property owners to identify laneway areas that can be transformed into dynamic spaces for innovative businesses and art.

More than 66 projects were supported in this round of our Local Community Grants, Matching Grants and Festival Program, which encourage grassroots applications and prioritises projects which help implement Sustainable Sydney 2030.