Barangaroo is an area of central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district and the southern end of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

. It is part of the local government area of the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

. The area was used for fishing and hunting by Indigenous Australians prior to colonial settlement. The area is inclusive of

The Hungry Mile The Hungry Mile is the name harbourside workers gave to the docklands area of Darling Harbour East, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in the Great Depression in Australia, Great Depression. Workers would walk from wharf to wharf in search of ...

, the name harbourside workers gave to the docklands area of Darling Harbour East during The Great Depression, where workers would walk from wharf to wharf in search of a job, often failing to find one. In 2003, the Government of New South Wales determined that the precinct would be redeveloped from shipping and stevedoring facilities to provide more commercial office space and recreational areas. This redevelopment has moved from design contest to concept plan from 2005 to 2012. In the interim, stevedoring facilities have been relocated, some of the site remediated, and temporary alternate uses such as major events implemented, pending major development. The site is managed by an agency of the NSW Government, called the Barangaroo Delivery Authority. Redevelopment commenced in 2012 and is expected to be entirely completed by 2023. The redevelopment involves parkland with several new apartment buildings, as well as a

metro station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...

, hotel, "cultural space" and casino.

History

This area was of importance to Aboriginal

Cadigal The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Gadigal originally inhabited the area t ...

people as a hunting and fishing region. Large shell

middens A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofac ...

and numerous rock engravings close to the site indicate indigenous occupation dating back around 6,000 years, while radiocarbon dates from other parts of Sydney indicate that the wider area was occupied for at least 14,500 years prior to non-indigenous settlement, from 1788. It is not clear what mobility indigenous people had during seasons. Following a public competition in 2006, the East Darling Harbour area was renamed in October 2007 in honour of

Barangaroo Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong, who was interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. Barangaroo was a member of the Cammeraygal clan. While Bennelong spent considerable time in th ...

, a Kamaraygal woman who was the second wife of

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong ser ...

, an interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. She did not, however agree with Bennelong working with the colonial government.

Watkin Tench Lieutenant General Watkin Tench (6 October 1758 – 7 May 1833) was a British marine officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first European settlement in Australia in ...

, a marine from the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

, in his first-hand account called ''A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson'', describes one such encounter with Barangaroo:

"Not seeing Barangaroo of the party, I asked for her, and was informed that she had violently opposed Bennelong's departure. When she found persuasion vain, she had recourse to tears, scolding, and threats, stamping the ground, and tearing her hair. But Baneelon continuing determined, she snatched up in her rage one of his fish-gigs, and dashed it with such fury on the rocks, that it broke. To quiet her apprehensions on the score of her husband's safety, Mr. Johnson, attended by Abaroo, agreed to remain as a hostage until ennelongshould return".

The suburb now known as Barangaroo was for 200 years the community of Millers Point and known by that name as "Millers Point". Briefly the point at its northern end was named Barangaroo Point until this was determined to be inaccurate by the Geographical Names Board, and the name historic Millers Point was reinstated. It appears Millers Point may have been known in the local Aboriginal language as Ilkan maladul. There is one record that this phrase was recorded by a linguist marine Lieutenant William Dawes on a sketch map inside the front cover of his first language notebook, dated to 1790.

European settlement

At the time of European and indigenous contact, Governor Phillip estimated that there were about 1500 Aboriginal people inhabiting the coastal area of Botany Bay, Port Jackson and Broken Bay. The population reduced dramatically with the introduction of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

into Sydney's Aboriginal community in the first years of European settlement. More than half of Sydney's indigenous population is believed to have died in the smallpox epidemic of 1789. Originally known as Cockle Bay Point during the early years of the Sydney colony, little activity or settlement took place in the area. Then in the 1820s

windmills A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some par ...

were built out on what was to become known as

Millers Point Millers Point is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to The Rocks and is part of the local government area of the C ...

and European settlers started constructing houses and building a small village. In the 1830s the first

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

was constructed in the area immediately bringing more people to the nascent villages around two

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. In 1843 the

Australian Gas Light Company The Australian Gas Light Company (AGL) was an Australian gas and electricity retailer, operated entirely by McCarthy Hanlin. It was formed in Sydney in 1837 and supplied town gas for the first public lighting of a street lamp in Sydney in 1841. AG ...

finished building and began operating a gas works in East Darling Harbour. This was the beginning of major residential and dockland development in the area as employees needed to be housed near the works. The works also brought more commercial shipping into the harbour as the coal for the works had to be delivered by boat. In 1859 a direct route from The Rocks to Millers Point was created, called the

Argyle Cut The Argyle Cut is a heritage-listed roadway and road cutting located at Argyle Street in the inner-city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1843 to 1868 wit ...

. This made the journey back and forth from the main colony much safer and quicker. The route was a major catalyst for development in east Darling Harbour and Millers Point.

Early shipping era to 1960s

McIlwraith McEacharn Wharf 4, Hickson Road

From the 1850s to the 1880s the docks and

shipyards A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

in East Darling Harbour multiplied tremendously, going from a coal and ferry drop off point to a hub of commercial shipping activity. During the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

, labour shortages plagued the docks as most poor labourers headed out to the gold fields in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to strike it rich. The companies had to become more flexible in meeting worker demands so they offered better pay and working conditions to workers who stayed in Sydney. In the 1860s storage facilities and warehouses had to be built out on Millers Point to accommodate the massive number of bulk goods flowing through the port. By the 1870s the waterfront was covered in warehouses and storage depots, mostly holding the treasured export of the time, wool. From 1880 to 1900, specialisation of the area occurred. Shipyards closed down in favour of storage facilities and bigger wharfs to accommodate contemporary ships with larger cargo loads were built. The skilled ship builders were therefore out of a job and had to find work elsewhere, while more unskilled workers were needed to fill

stevedoring A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

positions. This shifted the demographics of the area significantly, turning it from a mix of skilled and unskilled workers to a working-class neighbourhood. The arrival of the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

in Sydney in 1900 was cause for alarm on the docks. It also provided convenient grounds for mass resumptions of houses in preparation for reshaping the landscape of The Rocks, Dawes Point and Millers Point. Mass areas of Sydney were fenced off and people deported to North Head to be quarantined. Shipping operations were shut down for a period of time while Council decontaminated the area and exterminated disease ridden rats. During this time the ownership of the port was shifted from individually owned private wharfs to the

Sydney Harbour Trust The Sydney Harbour Trust began operations on 1 November 1900 with responsibility for the Navigation Department and Marine Board of Sydney Harbour. The Trust, as governed by an act of the New South Wales Parliament consisted of three commissione ...

. The trust dismantled the inadequate and unsafe docks and built finger wharfs large enough to facilitate large modern ships. By the end of the 1930s construction was complete, the wharfs dominated the waterfront from Millers point down to Darling Harbour.

The Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

gave East Darling Harbour and dock areas surrounding it a poignant nickname,

. During this period great masses of workers would line up down the mile long stretch of wharfs and wait for work. Clerks chose the workers based on the a system where the fitter men were chosen over the weaker, and where socialist troublemakers were sidelined in favour of willing workers. This brutal system made for a very adversarial environment which polarised the community at large. They erupted occasionally in protest, most famously refusing to load a boat with scrap metal bound for Japan on the eve of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

View over Barangaroo from Westpac office - 2009

Modern shipping era to redevelopment

By the 1950s ships had become too big for the now inadequately small finger wharfs of East Darling Harbour. Standardized

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...

sizes had eliminated the need for bulk offloading. One crane operator could now do the work of 50 men. The whole of what is known today as South Barangaroo was turned into a massive concrete

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

, the northern end followed similarly in the 1970s. Flaws in the site's modern shipping capability started to show. The lack of a

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...

link or a

b-double A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Early ...

capable road limited the port's capacity in processing in and outbound cargo. As container ships got bigger this problem only got worse. The ultimate demise of commercial shipping in Darling Harbour, and ultimately

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

as a working harbour, was the construction of

Port Botany Port Botany is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Port Botany is located 12 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Port Bot ...

in 1979 and the expansion of port facilities at

Port Kembla A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. With excellent rail, road and air connections to the port, along with massive capacity for expansion and the ability to handle large container ships, it progressively became the main port of Sydney. Sydney Ports Harbour Control Tower

The wharfs had been unusually free of union activity from the beginning of World War II up until the mid-1990s, with high wages and a steady stream of jobs. In 1996 the Howard government was elected into power promising

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

reform. In 1997 the Workplace Relations Act, 1996 limited the bargaining power of unions and sidelined the

Australian Industrial Relations Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with powers ...

's ability to mediate negotiations as well as introducing statutory employee contracts. In 1998 Patrick Stevedoring laid off all its workers and liquidated its assets after encountering backlash from the unions for the new workplace contracts taking advantage of the new legislation. But the very next day when work was expected to grind to a halt, everything was proceeding as if nothing happened. The employees were rehired by a new corporation with the same people who owned Patrick, just on a lower wage and with fewer concessions in their contracts. In 2003 with the stevedoring companies set to move out within three years, the Government of New South Wales designated the site for redevelopment into parklands and commercial space. An international design contest was launched in 2005 attracting 139 submissions from around the world. The winning design by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, Paul Berkemeier Architects and Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture was announced in March 2006 together with a naming competition for the new precinct. In October 2006, the Minister for Planning,

Frank Sartor Francesco Ernest "Frank" Sartor AO (born 9 November 1951) is a former Australian politician who served as New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) between 2009 and ...

, announced that the area will be renamed as Barangaroo. In late 2006 Patrick Corporation, who leased the site from the New South Wales Government, moved their stevedoring operations to Port Botany. This put an end to almost 130 years of cargo shipping operations in eastern Darling Harbour. Prior to the precinct's redevelopment, Barangaroo was a

World Youth Day 2008 World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was deci ...

site used for the opening mass for an estimated 150,000 people, concerts, a re-enactment of the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

and for the arrival of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

to Sydney. A passenger terminal for

cruise liners Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...

was temporarily located at Barangaroo, prior to construction of the

White Bay Cruise Terminal The White Bay Cruise Terminal is a terminal for cruise ships on Sydney Harbour. The terminal is located at the eastern end of the White Bay wharves, on the northern shore of White Bay. It opened on 15 April 2013 as a replacement for Wharf 8 on D ...

. The Barangaroo Foreshore is also available for events during construction.

Redevelopment

Millers Point NSW 2000, Australia - panoramio (127)

Initially placed in the hands of

Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA) was a statutory authority that owned and managed some of the Government of New South Wales most significant Sydney harbour foreshore assets, including Sydney's heritage and cultural precincts at The Ro ...

, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority was established pursuant to th
Barangaroo Delivery Authority Act, 2009 No 2
to facilitate a high quality commercial and mixed use precinct at Barangaroo balancing social, economic and environment outcomes, including the establishment of a headland park and other public domains; amongst other objectives. Supporting the Authority is a Design Excellence Review Panel that comprised

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

(Chairman from 2005 until 2011), Chris Johnson, Bridget Smyth, Oi Choong,

James Weirick Professor James Weirick is an Australian academic who was the Director of the Master of Urban Development and Design (MUDD) program at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. This program was last run in 2019. Professor Weir ...

, Angelo Candalepas, and

Leo Schofield Leo George Schofield (born 6 May 1935) is an Australian restaurant critic, contributing a weekly column in '' The Mercury''. Schofield has served a long career as an advertising professional, journalist, creative arts festival director, and tr ...

(resigned 2011). The role of the Panel was to guide the government authority on a range of design issues, such as architecture, landscape and culture. Commissioned initially in 2005, the Panel was instrumental in the selection of Hill Thalis Architecture as the winning the international design competition in 2006. The winning team was commissioned to assist the Government in developing the design during the latter part of 2006. There was early debate regarding the design and size of waterfront developments. The City of Sydney and some architectural bodies expressed concern that the proposed designs would be out of scale with the surrounding environment, as well as causing large unwanted shadows over the immediate area, parts of Darling Harbour and possibly nearby Pyrmont. Barangaroo South

A concept plan was released by the Government in 2007 and a year later announced that it had shortlisted consortia led by

Brookfield Multiplex Multiplex is an international construction contractor founded in Australia and currently headquartered in London, England. Operating in Australia, India, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, the company specializes in high-rise buildings, studio ...

Lendlease Lendlease is a globally integrated real estate company that creates and invests in communities, workplaces, retail, and infrastructure projects, headquartered in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. History Founding The company was establ ...

and

Mirvac Mirvac is an Australian property group with operations across property investment, development, and retail services. This entity now broadens their clientele and shareholder return on investment by venturing across multiple development sectors, ...

. In 2009, to assist with the economic viability of the project, the Government announced that the amount of commercial office space would increase by one third, allowing an additional from the initial concept plan for the 6

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

development. In late 2009, after a further shortlisting process, the Government announced that it would not to proceed with Hill Thalis' winning design, choosing instead a consortium that included lead architect Lord Rogers and developer, Lendlease, who controversially proposed a tall hotel to be constructed into Darling Harbour, as well as parkland and commercial offices. When plans were put on public display during 2010 it was claimed that the development exceeded planning height and footprint limits. Following public outcry at changes to the original Concept Plan, community-based organisations such as the Friends of Barangaroo, Australians for Sustainable Development and the Barangaroo Action Group formed, colloquially referring to the precinct as "the Greedy Mile". In March 2010, the Government and Lendlease entered into provisional contracts for the development of the site, subject to Ministerial approval which was given in May 2010. Concerned about the lack of transparency, in September 2010

Clover Moore Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...

, who was both Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney and Member for Sydney in the state parliament, resigned as a director of the Barangaroo Delivery Authority. On attaining Government in March 2011, Premier

Barry O'Farrell Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is a former Australian politician who has been Australia's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan since May 2020. O'Farrell was the 43rd Premier of New South Wales and Minis ...

announced an independent review into the selection processes. The panel reported in August 2011 and stated that two members of a design panel had a conflict of duty. O'Farrell also overturned an amendment to planning legislation made in the last days of the previous government that placed the Barangaroo site as exempt from remediation of contaminated sites requirements. The Government has also asked Lendlease to move the hotel off the harbour as a gesture of goodwill, even though it has planning approval from the Keneally government. As of January 2012, discussions with the developer were still ongoing.

Precincts

The redevelopment project comprises three precincts: Barangaroo South, Barangaroo Central and Barangaroo Reserve. International Towers Sydney

Barangaroo South

File:Barangaroo Sydney Australia 01.jpg, Barangaroo House File:Mercantile Walk 201708.jpg, Mercantile Walk File:Wulugul Walk 2017.jpg, Wulugul Walk File:Shipwright Walk Bridge to Sydney CBD 201708.jpg, Shipwright Walk Barangaroo South is the southern third of the site and acts as an extension of Sydney's CBD, with office buildings, apartments, retail outlets, public spaces and a hotel. Three commercial skyscrapers designed by

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) * Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...

form the core of this stage; known as

International Towers Sydney The International Towers is a commercial skyscraper complex in central Sydney, in the Barangaroo area. The complex comprises three main office towers; Tower 1 at 217 metres (712 ft), Tower 2 at 178 metres (584 ft), and Tower 3 at 168 metres (55 ...

. The tallest is IT1 at . In addition to office space, it will also include a community or childcare centre. All three towers will feature retail on the podium levels. IT2 is due for completion in 2015, while IT1 & IT3 are expected to be complete the following year.

Barangaroo Central

Barangaroo Central will contain low-rise residential and commercial buildings.

James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...

's casino group,

Crown Limited Crown Resorts Limited is Australia's largest gaming and entertainment group that owns and operates two of Australia's leading gambling and entertainment complexes, Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exc ...

, presented an 1 billion+ proposal to Premier O'Farrell in February 2012 to build a hotel, casino and entertainment complex at the site on land that is set aside for open space at Barangaroo Central. The Premier initially welcomed the proposal, yet cautioned it would need to gain regulatory approval before going ahead. The proposal drew widespread criticism from the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore MP, Paul Keating, and former government architect, Chris Johnson. In October 2012, Premier O'Farrell announced that the NSW Cabinet reviewed the proposal and decided that the government will enter into detailed negotiations with Crown Limited for the establishment of a casino and hotel complex at Barangaroo. Tony Harris, a former NSW Auditor General was critical of the decision−making process, claiming the public could miss out on millions of dollars. Businessman and former politician

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson was ...

, Greens MP John Kaye, and

were also critical of the process. Defending his position, Packer opined: In July 2013 after a recommendation from an independent steering committee Premier O'Farrell announced the Crown proposal would be moved to Stage 3 of the unsolicited proposals process, the final stage where the parties will negotiate a binding contract. The government is to receive an 100 million upfront fee for the licence, despite being offered 250 million with alternative tax arrangements which the steering committee's economic advisor

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

calculated was a superior offer. Crown's intention is to lure Chinese high-rollers to its Sydney casino leveraging off its interests in its

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

casinos and taking advantage of a new streamlined visa process introduced by the Australian government for Chinese citizens wanting to gamble at Australian casinos. In November 2013, it was announced that

Crown Sydney Crown Sydney (also referred to as One Barangaroo) is a skyscraper in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. Designed by WilkinsonEyre, it stands at a height of with 75 floors, making it the tallest building in Sydney and 4th tallest build ...

received approval for the casino licence and place at Barangaroo. Crown Sydney opened its resort hotel and restaurant/bars precinct in December 2020, though the casino is subject to future approval.

Barangaroo Reserve

Barangaroo Reserve is a re-created headland park at the northern end of Barangaroo. The park opened on 22 August 2015 and features a reconstructed, naturalistic headland based around the pre-1836 shoreline. After 1836, the original headland and foreshore was cut away to make space for wharves and stevedoring activities as Sydney became a major international port. The new headland is inspired by what existed before 1836 and restores the relationship with other headlands in Sydney Harbour. A design competition held in 2009-2010 was won by

Johnson Pilton Walker Richard Anthony Johnson (born 11 May 1946, in Sydney) is an Australian architect best known as the creator of some of the Australian most important and iconic cultural buildings and spaces of the twentieth century. Academic career Johnson gra ...

, in association with

PWP Landscape Architecture Peter Walker is an American landscape architect and the founder of PWP Landscape Architecture. Early life Peter Walker It was said the site was reconnecting Millers Point to the waterfront which re-establishes Sydney's first neighbourhood as one of contemporary and historic significance. The parkland features grassed areas, lookouts, walking and cycle paths, two new harbour coves, and tidal rock pools created from sandstone excavated directly from the Barangaroo site. However, the site itself is what was named Millers Point almost 200 years ago, and the Geographical Names Board upheld the Millers Point Community's objection to it being named Barangaroo Point. The parklands included the Sydney Harbour Control Tower, built in 1974. The design of Barangaroo Reserve called for removal of the tower as it did not assimilate with the "natural" architectural goal for the reserve, however this attracted some public outcry. Demolition of the tower began in March 2016 and reached completion in January 2017. Barangaroo Reserve Wulugul Walk 201708

The Hawkesbury sandstone used to create Barangaroo Reserve was excavated on site. The foreshore of the park is constructed from 10,000 sandstone blocks excavated and cut on the site. Some 6,500 blocks were placed to create the foreshore. More than of rough stone and a further of crushed stone was also used in the construction. In addition, some 75,000 native trees, plants and shrubs have been used to landscape Barangaroo Reserve. A total of 84 species were chosen, 79 of which are native to Sydney Harbour. Many of the species are not to be found in commercial nurseries, so seeds and cuttings were collected from wild sites around Sydney Harbour and the Hawkesbury River. A cultural facility called "the Cutaway", and car park is located beneath the headland.

Population

According to there were 189 people in Barangaroo and is Sydney's most expensive area with average apartments costing $10,000,000. At the 2021 census the population had grown to 220. There has been criticism as the area was reclaimed for affordable housing, however features Australia's most expensive and exclusive real estate.

Transport

Ferry

Barangaroo ferry wharf Barangaroo ferry wharf is a ferry wharf located on the eastern side of Darling Harbour, in Sydney, Australia. The wharf is the major public transport link of the Barangaroo precinct, situated west of the Sydney central business district. The com ...

replaced Darling Harbour ferry wharf in June 2017. The complex serves as the city centre's western ferry hub and consists of two wharves, with provision for a third wharf in the future. It is serviced by

Sydney Ferries Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport a ...

' F3 Parramatta River and F4 Pyrmont Bay services.

Metro

Barangaroo railway station Barangaroo railway station is a future underground rapid transit station for the inner-city Barangaroo precinct in Sydney, Australia. The proposal, announced in 2015, forms part of Transport for NSW's Sydney Metro City & Southwest scheme and wo ...

is a future

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

station servicing Barangaroo. It has been confirmed as part of the

Sydney Metro City & Southwest Sydney Metro City & Southwest is a rapid transit project currently under-construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The project will extend the Metro North West Line from on the North Shore, to in the city's south-west via the Sydn ...

project and is scheduled to open in 2024. The station will be served by automated six car

Alstom Metropolis The Alstom Metropolis is a family of electric multiple units designed and produced by the French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom. It is designed for high capacity rapid transit or metro rail infrastructure systems. Trains can be run in various ...

trains with platform screen doors along the platform. Services will run at a frequency of up to every two minutes in peak hour.

Bus

Barangaroo is served by

Transdev John Holland Transdev John Holland Buses is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A joint venture between Transdev and John Holland, it operates services in Sydney Bus Region 9 in the Eastern Suburbs under contract to Transport for NSW. It is a separate compa ...

bus routes 311, 324 and 325 to the

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

Wynyard Walk

Wynyard Walk The Wynyard Walk is a pedestrian link and tunnel between Wynyard station and Barangaroo in the Sydney central business district. The walkway was officially opened on 20 September 2016. Wynyard Walk provides a quick and safe route and has incre ...

, connecting Wynyard station with Barangaroo, opened in 2016.Wynyard Walk – Environment
Transport for NSW, 9 December 2014.

References

External links

Barangaroo Delivery Authority websiteBarangaroo South website
ublished by

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

Barangaroo Action Group websiteFriends of Barangaroo websiteAustralians for Sustainable Development website"The lie of the land is shifting again": Peter Walker on the Barangaroo Parklands
{{Parks in Sydney, state=autocollapse Suburbs of Sydney Fishing communities in Australia Parks in Sydney 2015 establishments in Australia Parks established in 2015