Written by
09/10/2023
Sydney LEP has officially been amended to respond to a major retail gap identified in Green Square.
City of Sydney removed a current 1000 square metre restriction on the amount of consolidated floor space for ‘shops’ and ‘markets’ from about 140,000 square metres of land adjacent to Green Square Town Centre. This restriction was imposed under clause 7.23 of Sydney LEP, with Council’s intention being to promote the economic strength of the town centre by limiting large-scale retail development around those centres.
The area affected in Green Square is known as the ‘expanded retail area’. The expanded retail area is immediately adjacent to the west and north of the town centre. It is generally bound by Bowden Street to the west, the east-west connector road and Johnston Street to the south, Botany Road and Bourke Street to the east and the northern branch of Sheas Creek to the north. The total area is about 140,000 square metres across 49 lots.
The removal of the retail restriction will create capacity for an additional 15,000 square metres of retail floor space, including supermarket floor space, required near the town centre.
The new controls include a requirement that new retail floor space in the expanded retail area is located on the ground floor, are fronting a public place and publicly accessible directly from the public place. This is to This is to deter inward facing retail, such as shopping centres or malls that could potentially compete with the town centre and other planned centres.
Most of the land within the ‘expanded retail area’ is zoned mixed-use with mapped floor space ratio controls of 1:1 and 3:1.
Expanded retail area
Strategic context
Sydney’s south is Australia’s largest urban renewal area and is forecast to accommodate an additional 32,000 dwellings and 60,000 – 70,000 people by 2036. This growth is being supported with substantial investment in local infrastructure, including new roads, parks, community facilities and utilities upgrades.
1.8 million square metres of additional retail will need to be accommodated across the Eastern City District by 2036. As a major growth precinct, much of this demand is likely to stem from Green Square, which has implications for retail planning in the precinct.
Following a major review of retail in the City’s south in 2012, Council introduced a hierarchy of centres in its planning controls with Green Square Town Centre being established as the primary commercial, retail and civic centre.
The Green Square and Southern Areas Retail Review has been commissioned to understand the changes to supply and demand of retail floor space in the City’s south since retail planning requirements were introduced in 2012.
The review identified a net shortfall in retail floor space across the City’s south, finding that to 2041 an additional 15,000 square metres of retail floor space is required with the greatest undersupply being in hospitality, supermarkets and other food retail.
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