The new Sydney Fish Market - Concept and Stage 1

I object to the relocation of the fish markets however support redevelopment of the fish markets in its current site.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I object to moving the Fish Markets to the new location. As a Glebe resident I already have issues with parking in my own street, in fact if I drive at night I have no chance of parking on my return home. The proposal asserts that any overflow of demand on the car park, particularly during lunch time periods, Easter and Christmas as well as school holidays, will be nullified by management plans.... Those plans cannot be guaranteed and will not work, and neither can the projection of driving behaviours. There will be very strong motivation for drivers to park in Glebe's residential streets - with free parking in most streets on weekends and in the evening.

Traffic congestion along Pyrmont Bridge Road is already at a maximum. With the additional traffic that will come from multi high rise apartment and to/from the new site will make it a joke.

Environmentally it will also be an issue with contamination and I worry about our fish and molluscs, starfish, sponges, oysters and macroalgae.

Our foreshore is an amazing space and yet the proposed extension of the walk at the fish markets forces walkers to climb stairs and those in wheelchairs to try and find lifts inside the building. This is shameful discrimination by the State Government.

I agree we definitely need to upgrade our existing market, but not to such an extent. Leave it on the same site and have open space from there to the high school and walk way around the bay, with green space for picnics, cycleway and walk areas.

For once give the high rise the flick and leave our lovely area alone and people friendly.
PLEASE
Regards Yolande (Nardi).

The development of the Fish Market and adjacent waterfront land should be seen as an opportunity to link the parkland of Wentworth Park with Blackwattle Bay. The building of a new fishmarket should be located entirely on the existing Fish Market site. The current concrete works site and adjoining lands should be demolished and replaced with open space and walkway, that would link the western and eastern sides of Blackwattle Bay. The current proposal will obstruct Harbour access and block the Harbour views from Wentworth Park. The current FishMarket site, we are told, has over 60,000 square metre of land. That is definitely enough land to provide the site for the new market and some housing development.
I believe that there will be significant increases in traffic to a new Fishmarket and there are traffic projections that have been done, without consideration for the proposed housing for the area. This area is already under strain with traffic problems and any development should provide onsite parking for all vehicles accessing the market and for all vehicles of residents in future housing developments on the site. Using Bridge Road as the main frontage of the Markets will create serious traffic problems and affect parking access in local streets. No tour buses should be allowed to park on local streets.
The bulk and size of the proposed development is too great. The development extends too far into the Harbour, it creates a commercial site adjacent to Sydney Secondary Campus, that will increase noise and reduce the Harbour view and access for students and rowers, who use the small Bay.
I think the parkland waterside walk should be extended from the edge of Bridge Road, along a restored Harbour frontage aligning with Bridge Road, to the existing Fish Market Site. The new market should be redesigned to sit within the current market site. This may affect the profit margin for developers of the site but the community and the NSW Government and Sydney council are not here to serve their interests.
Peter Mitchell

I own a property approximately 200m from the proposed development and completely support the application in its entirety. The current fish market is rundown and an eyesore; It is underutilised by local residents due to the lack of quality public space surrounding the markets and is an embarrassment for local/international tourists. I strongly believe that the current proposal will provide significant cultural and economic benefits/opportunities, for nearby residents, Sydney residents and local/international tourists. The design appears to be well resolved and the iconic roof form directly responds to the waterfront locality and fish markets.

I strongly object to the demolition of the existing structures on the proposed site of the new fish market until a thorough study into the impact on the immediate community is studied and taken into account. The existing proposal is a gross overdevelopment of the site. It would be infinitely prefereable to create more open green space incorporating a pleasant pedestrian walkway linking Glebe to Pyrmont and the foreshore to the existing Wentworth Park. The foreshore should be rehabilitated. Additionally, I object to the proposal to use the existing Fish Market site for purely residential development. This should be the site of the new Sydney Fish Market.

I object to the Sydney Fish Market being moved from the current site which is located on State owned land in Pyrmont . The new location in the head of Blackwattle Bay has not been considered in conjunction with Traffic & Transport Strategy. See attachment.

Please see attached letter.

I am writing to object to this proposal to redevelop the Sydney Fish Market (SFM) for the following reasons:
1. The location of the new SFM at the head of Blackwattle Bay and straddling the adjacent Pyrmont Bridge Road will severely compromise the foreshore area for public access (pedestrian and cycle) along the waterways of the inner west area of Sydney Harbour;
2. Traffic movements, especially truck deliveries and estimated SFM customer numbers will have overloading impacts on the adjacent Pyrmont Bridge Road, Wattle Street and nearby residential streets, noting that at least 90% of fish sold at the SFM is delivered by road and NOT the romantic marketing spin which fosters the idea of a fleet of fishing boats to serve the market;
3. Noting that 90% + of fish product for sale at the SFM is delivered by road, why must the new SFM be in what is a precious waterfront setting at all?;
4. The estimated population of occupants in the proposed multi-unit development above the existing SFM site will add unwanted/excessive pressures on the traffic loadings in the area, particularly at the intersection of Pyrmont Bridge Road and the A4 between Darling Harbour and the Anzac Bridge;
5. The floor space of the new SFM is apparently a 90+% increase over the exisitng site. This massive increase is completely out of proportion with existing waterfront development and will dominate the immediate area in terms of size, visual impact, noise and traffic movements resulting in an edifice that is completely out of scale with the area;
6. If the new SFM meets the retail expectations of those who will run and gain profit from the new SFM, it will be at the constant expense in terms of life-style and amenity of those Glebe and Pyrmont residents who live within a 1 kilometre radius of this overdevelopment;
7. I cannot see a case in the proposal to support the rebuilding of the SFM to the size and scale shown;
8. If the new SFM becomes the success that the proponents hope for, how will the nearby Sydney Light Rail infrastructure cope? I can find no reference to any upgrade to this system that could cope;
9. If the whole idea of selling fresh fish in Sydney is such a great commercial idea as a long-term enterprise, why is NSW state government money contributing financially to this "private enterprise" jewel? State government monies should be directed to the core reasons for state government existance and NOT to support a market better off under the control of private enterprise;
10. The existing SFM is a tired, unattractive, poorly laid out excuse for a market to sell "fresh" fish. It would appear that no thought has been given to its replacement and enhancement in situ without the need to create such a dominant, overbearing replacement that will have sustained detrimental impacts on the immediate area.

SUMMARY: This proposal, driven by exaggerated marketing projections, is an inappropriate development of public-owned waterfront land that will have unacceptable environmental and amenity impacts on the suburbs of Pyrmont and Glebe.

Objections to the Sydney Fish Market redevelopment proposal

1. My first objection to the current proposal is that it is not a ‘redevelopment’ of the Sydney Fish Market at all, but a land grab by the Sydney Fish Market authority, together with the NSW Government, to move the existing Fish Market to another site at the head of Blackwattle Bay. This will involve occupying not one but two sites for up to four year – or longer. The notion of ‘redeveloping’ the existing site has been cast aside completely by the current proposal. No details, or even an outline, appears to be available for the use of the existing site of the Fish Market once the ‘new’ Sydney Fish Market is in operation. In the course of the proposal, it seems that it is taken for granted that the building will fundamentally alter the character of the Bay, renaming it ‘the Bays Market District (now Blackwattle Bay)…’
2. Following on from point 1 above, I think that a comprehensive plan was promised for the Bays Precinct. To my knowledge no such plan has been put forward. Such a plan would necessarily involve detailed proposals for the existing Fish Market site as well as adjacent sites to the East of Blackwattle Bay, the waterfront beneath the Anzac Bridge, the White Bay Power Station site, the former container wharves at Glebe Island, etc. I believe that one plan is to make this site available for high-rise development and I am appalled at this thought. It would add to traffic congestion, and put extra strain on the limited public transport in the area.
3. The scale of the current building proposed is far too big (gross floor area is variously given as 26,751 sq m, 30,000 sq m and even one refrerence to 40,000 sq m). The plans show the site under consideration to be out of scale with the Bay itself, extending well beyond the existing wharves out into Blackwattle Bay and from the public footpath and cycleway alongside the western edge of the bay to the access path of the current Fish Market on the eastern side.
4. The height for three above-ground levels is given as RL28.AHD. What seems clear is that the building height would exceed the height of the fig trees in Wentworth Park opposite the proposed building.
5. Far from allowing Wentworth Park to ‘better connect to the harbour’ I believe the proposed building would close off the park from the harbour, rendering Bridge Road an even greater barrier than it currently is. The claim that the two tiny open spaces on either side of the building allow ‘new views/vistas’ from Wentworth Park (shown on the plans as giant eyeballs!) over Blackwattle Bay is absurd.
6. There seems to be inadequate provision for traffic management to the site both during construction and once the building is complete. Access to the proposed building (opposite Wentworth Park Rd) appears to be completely inadequate and the impact on traffic along Bridge Rd not dealt with to my satisfaction in the proposal. The existing Fish Market has access to the major road network (Western distributor, accessing Anzac bridge), whereas Bridge Rd is already severely congested both morning and afternoon, particularly at the ‘choke point’ where the road goes under the light rail bridge as a single lane in each direction near Taylor Street. To suggest that the increased traffic generated by the proposed Fish Market in this location can be managed effectively, with a doubling of visitors within the space of a few years, is preposterous.
7. There appears to be inaequate provision for parking and it is therefore likely that surrounding streets in Glebe will suffer increased illegal parking and associated frustration for residents. The parking situation is already difficult and under this Fish Market proposal will deteriorate markedly.

The Department of Primary Industries has reviewed the proposal and advises that all permanent seawalls and foreshore structures must be fish friendly (refer to the Environmentally Friendly Seawalls Guidelines, OEH 2009) with the aim of increasing aquatic biodiversity in the area.
For more information please contact Sarah Conacher on [email protected].

The NSW Fishing Industry (NSW FITC) is a NFP Registered Training Organisation. Originally established in 1983 as an Industry Training Advisory Body. This organisation was originally part of the market building and is now based on the NSW Central Coast. Since 1983, NSW FITC has delivered seafood industry training and maritime qualifications to NSW fishing and seafood industry members. We use the SFM as a training venue in Sydney. We fully support the move of SFM to the new location believing a new and modern premise is long overdue. Besides being an operating fish market the SFM is a tourist icon and an integral part of our industry.
James Ward
CEO NSW FITC

I am a member of Glebe Rowing Club (GRC), an amateur, volunteer based rowing club that has operated on the water of Blackwattle Bay since 1879. The Bay is our home and we rely on safe water conditions for our 150 members to continue to use the water.

I support the overall Fish Markets development as a positive for the local community and Sydney residents and visitors. It is an amazing opportunity to open up the land around Blackwattle Bay for use by the community.

I object to some important aspects of the proposed development and request:

- improved analysis of the impact on water traffic be undertaken and factored into the design and Master Plan;

- modifications be made to the design of the Eastern Wharf to ensure the safety of rowers; and

- the implementation of necessary safety provisions during the early works project into the construction contract to ensure the safety of water users during the long construction phase.

I have provided more detail on these concerns in this attachment prepared by my club.

I am a member of Glebe Rowing Club (GRC), an amateur, volunteer based rowing club that has operated on the water of Blackwattle Bay since 1879. The Bay is our home and we rely on safe water conditions for our 150 members to continue to use the water.

I support the overall Fish Markets development as a positive for the local community and Sydney residents and visitors. It is an amazing opportunity to open up the land around Blackwattle Bay for use by the community.

I object to some important aspects of the proposed development and request:

- improved analysis of the impact on water traffic be undertaken and factored into the design and Master Plan;

- modifications be made to the design of the Eastern Wharf to ensure the safety of rowers; and

- the implementation of necessary safety provisions during the early works project into the construction contract to ensure the safety of water users during the long construction phase.

I have provided more detail on these concerns in this attachment prepared by my club.

“I am a member of Glebe Rowing Club (GRC), an amateur, volunteer based rowing club that has operated on the water of Blackwattle Bay since 1879. The Bay is our home and we rely on safe water conditions for our 150 members to continue to use the water.
I support the overall Fish Markets development as a positive for the local community and Sydney residents and visitors. It is an amazing opportunity to open up the land around Blackwattle Bay for use by the community.
I object to some important aspects of the proposed development and request:
- improved analysis of the impact on water traffic be undertaken and factored into the design and Master Plan;
- modifications be made to the design of the Eastern Wharf to ensure the safety of rowers; and
- the implementation of necessary safety provisions during the early works project into the construction contract to ensure the safety of water users during the long construction phase.
I have provided more detail on these concerns in this attachment prepared by my club.”

I am a member of Glebe Rowing Club (GRC), an amateur, volunteer based rowing club that has operated on the water of Blackwattle Bay since 1879. The Bay is our home and we rely on safe water conditions for our 150 members to continue to use the water.
I support the overall Fish Markets development as a positive for the local community and Sydney residents and visitors. It is an amazing opportunity to open up the land around Blackwattle Bay for use by the community.
I object to some important aspects of the proposed development and request:
- improved analysis of the impact on water traffic be undertaken and factored into the design and Master Plan;
- modifications be made to the design of the Eastern Wharf to ensure the safety of rowers; and
- the implementation of necessary safety provisions during the early works project into the construction contract to ensure the safety of water users during the long construction phase.
I have provided more detail on these concerns in this attachment prepared by my club.

“I am a member of Glebe Rowing Club (GRC), a rowing club that has operated on Blackwattle Bay since 1879. The Bay is our home and we rely on continued safe water conditions for our 150 members.

I support the overall Fish Markets development as a positive for the local community and Sydney residents and visitors. It is an amazing opportunity to open up the land around Blackwattle Bay for use by the community.

I object to some important aspects of the proposed development and request:
- improved analysis of the impact on water traffic be undertaken and factored into the design and Master Plan;
- modifications be made to the design of the Eastern Wharf to ensure the safety of rowers; and
- the implementation of necessary safety provisions during the construction phase to ensure the safety of water users.

I am a member of Glebe Rowing Club (GRC), an amateur, volunteer based rowing club that has operated on the water of Blackwattle Bay since 1879. The Bay is our home and we rely on safe water conditions for our 150 members to continue to use the water.

I support the overall Fish Markets development as a positive for the local community and Sydney residents and visitors. It is an amazing opportunity to open up the land around Blackwattle Bay for use by the community.

I object to some important aspects of the proposed development and request:

- improved analysis of the impact on water traffic be undertaken and factored into the design and Master Plan;

- modifications be made to the design of the Eastern Wharf to ensure the safety of rowers; and

- the implementation of necessary safety provisions during the early works project into the construction contract to ensure the safety of water users during the long construction phase.

I have provided more detail on these concerns in this attachment prepared by my club.

Please refer attached submission.