Harold Park
The right track
The Harold Park urban renewal project is in Forest Lodge, near Glebe and Annandale. Mirvac is developing the site. The City of Sydney and the Central Sydney Planning Committee have joint planning control of the site.
NSW Harness Racing Club privately owned the Harold Park Paceway since 1911. The paceway's popularity hit a peak in the 1960s, when crowds of up to 50,000 would flock to the venue and watch the races. The Rozelle Tram Depot was home to working trams from 1904 to the 1960s.
The City adopted new planning controls following extensive consultation with the local community and balancing the interests of residents, businesses and the land owners and the need to meet targets for new inner-city housing.
The $1.1 billion project includes 1,250 new residences that will be home to around 2,500 people. Homes will be close to light rail, new parks and nearly 2 kilometres of walking and cycling paths connecting Harold Park to the surrounding area. The former Rozelle tram depot will be conserved and higher sustainability targets mean new homes will use less energy and water.
A requirement for the developer was to dedicate more than one third of the privately owned site to the City for a public park. The 3.8 hectare park will link with surrounding suburbs and Bicentennial, Federal and Jubilee Parks.
The developer is also required to dedicate 1,000 square metres of land for affordable housing and 500 square metres within the tram sheds for community use.
Harold Park's visual impact has been minimised by restricting building heights to the equivalent of the 2 to 3 storey terraces on nearby cliffs in Glebe and Forest Lodge.
In July 2012, the Central Sydney Planning Committee approved the overall master plan for the site, known as the stage 1 development application, and then approved detailed development applications for buildings in precincts 1 and 2 in September 2012. Demolition and construction work has begun.
Contacts
City of Sydney
02 9265 9333council@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.auLast updated: Friday, 24 May 2013