The Metropolitan Strategy guides the process of planning for where people will live and work in Sydney to 2031.
It sets strategic directions for Government decisions on the timing and location of investment in transport and other infrastructure, to deliver the best possible services to the community and business across Sydney.
The Metropolitan Strategy seeks to increase employment opportunities in rapidly growing subregions and strategic centres. To support this, the Metropolitan Strategy sets out employment planning capacity targets for Sydney's subregions and strategic centres.
These targets are closely related to trend based projections but they recognise that more concerted action may be needed in some areas to stimulate private sector investment and employment growth. The employment capacity targets are compatible and associated with subregional housing capacity targets, and thereby aim to maintain a better balance between population and employment growth in subregions and strategic centres. The targets are to guide councils, State agencies and the private sector to ensure that there are sufficient and appropriately zoned commercial sites and employment lands to meet private sector demand. The Strategy emphasises that the private sector is the dominant driver of investment and employment growth, and the targets will ensure that sufficient zoned land is available for employment growth.
The first step in the process will be subregional planning, to be completed in 2006/07 by the State Government in collaboration with local government and in consultation with the community and business. (Refer to subregional planning on pages 18-19 for details).
Sydney's urban footprint is over 1700 square kilometres in area, with over 500 different places. It is too large to plan as a single entity. Local government will benefit from a single strategic planning framework at the subregional level. The city will therefore be divided into 10 subregional areas to enable the local knowledge to be brought to bear in best understanding where there is capacity for additional homes and jobs in each part of Sydney and the infrastructure and service implications.
Subregional groupings of local government will test target numbers of additional dwellings and jobs for each area. These numbers will then be the subject of community and stakeholder consultation, and initial numbers will be reviewed by key State Government agencies to ensure distributions are in accordance with reasonable increased demands on the infrastructure of the city, such as transport, schools and hospitals.
Once the distribution is confirmed, the Government can move on to longer-term planning by the various agencies and include this in the annual State budget process.
Local government can also then commence any changes that might need to be made to zonings or development controls to ensure that they can accommodate enough homes and jobs in the right locations within their area.
YEARLY AND FIVE YEARLY REVIEWS
The Department of Planning will undertake an annual review of the process to ensure that each subregion achieves consistency with the aims and directions of the Strategy. A major review of the Metropolitan Strategy strategic directions and overall aims will be undertaken each five years, in conjunction with release of the Census data, to ensure assumptions, objectives and actions remain valid.
WHAT AREA DOES THE STRATEGY COVER
The Metropolitan Strategy focuses on Sydney, however, links and relationships with surrounding regions are acknowledged. The Sydney to Canberra corridor is also affected by planning in Sydney.
Data in the Metropolitan Strategy covers the Sydney Region, including the Central Coast, unless otherwise stated.
The draft Lower Hunter Regional Strategy was released for public comment in late 2005. Separate regional strategies are being prepared for the Central Coast and other regions, for release in 2006/07.
HOW WAS THE STRATEGY PREPARED
The Strategy is a whole of Government planning exercise managed by the Department of Planning.
Experts have provided advice through the Metropolitan Strategy Reference Panel and on individual housing, employment, environment and transport working groups.
Formal consultation has occurred at two Sydney Futures Forums events, a Local Government Forum and presentations to groupings of councils.
Numerous meetings with council officers and stakeholder representatives have been conducted. Twelve community forums across the Greater Metropolitan Region sought the views and opinions of residents in the second half of 2004.
Overall, more than 10,000 people have been consulted during the development of the Metropolitan Strategy.
COMMUNITY FORUMS
In late 2004, around 1000 people from across the Sydney and the Central Coast, Lower Hunter and Illawarra regions took part in a series of forums on the Metropolitan Strategy.
Participants were chosen on a random basis so the Government could hear from people who might not normally attend a planning forum. They were asked to discuss what they valued most about where they live, to identify things which will make Sydney an even better place to live over the next 25 years and to say what they wanted Sydney or their region to be like in 25 years.
COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
The natural environment was the strongest theme that emerged at every forum. People talked about protecting, preserving and having access to the natural environment. People identified strongly with their local environment - beaches, parks, bushland, waterways and reserves.
"Any further deterioration of the natural environment will lead to Sydney losing the qualities that make it the attractive and liveable place that it is today."
- Forum Participant
The natural environment means different things to different people, depending on which part of Sydney they live in.
At the North and South forums, people talked about green space, local bushland and access to national parks. People from the East forum related to Centennial Park, Royal Botanic Gardens, to smaller local parks, open space and the harbour foreshore and beaches.
In the Inner West, people talked about local parks and open space while people in the South West talked about the rural environment.
"I like the room to move and walk without encountering the hustle and bustle of city life."
- Forum Participant
Participants from the regional forums emphasised access to and protection of the mountains, the coastal areas and mangroves, beaches, lakes or escarpment.
The second and third most important themes were urban planning and development and public transport.
While there was no single common view on urban planning and development, issues raised included control over high-rise and unrestrained higher density development, concentrating rather than spreading development throughout the suburbs, stronger activity areas in places other than the Sydney CBD and better designed medium density development, incorporating appropriate open space.
Public transport comments focused on service and quality improvements, expansion to the system, improving connections to not only the CBD but also between suburban centres through better integration of the different transport modes (buses, rail and ferries).
A sense of community was another important theme. Comments included how people feel about their local area, the quality of access to the shops, restaurants and social services, their family connections, neighbours and involvement in community groups and sporting activities.
"I like the people. There is a wide range in ages but there are lots of organisations to join, sporting bodies etc and the friendships gained make it an easy place to live."
- Forum Participant
Local jobs were a strong theme from the Illawarra, Central Coast and Lower Hunter forums, where people said they wanted more local job opportunities.