While renewal around Central Station is proceeding, as well as the broader Tech Central precinct, Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said removing the super deck risked the rest of the renewal “withering on the vine”.
“When you start to lose the centrepiece, the whole vision starts to fall apart,” said Forrest, who is a former NSW Labor chief of staff. “It leaves an impact on all of those planning to or who had already invested money in those precincts and areas in good faith, expecting the government was going to honour its commitment.”
A proposed redevelopment for Central Station covers a 24-hectare site at the southern end of Sydney’s CBD.Credit: NSW government
The project had been touted as a measure to connect a “dead zone” occupied by the railway tracks through the installation of new parks, public spaces and transport links. A pedestrian avenue up to 24 metres wide would separate the buildings and allow foot traffic across the precinct.
The former Coalition government acknowledged the project would be a complex engineering feat, and there was significant division among stakeholders about what should be built on the deck.
Atlassian’s $1.4 billion Australian headquarters – still going ahead and due for completion in 2026 next to Central Station – is expected to anchor the new Tech Central precinct. The company was contacted for comment on Monday, as were Business NSW and the City of Sydney council.
Eamon Waterford, chief executive of the Committee for Sydney think tank, said he would not shed a tear for the Central Station deck, which was always going to be “eye-wateringly expensive”.
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“On the other hand, doing bold visionary projects costs money,” he said. “This is a government that’s very much focused on meat and potato issues – housing affordability, wages. We are going to have to start doing some visionary projects at some point.”
An alternative plan for the Central Station precinct put forward by architecture firm Bates Smart proposed a large area of green space should be built on the deck over the rail lines, with towers on either side instead.
Managing director Philip Vivian called the decision to abandon the deck “bittersweet”, saying it put “years of planning down the drain” but did open up opportunities for different measures to enhance public space.
Vivian said the government contacted him four months ago to discuss his alternative proposal. “It was always known that building buildings over rail was super expensive,” he said.
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