Construction, concrete and technology a lousy mix
The State Government’s grandiose plan to turn White Bay and Glebe Island into an international technology hub looks doomed to fail following recently lodged plans to build a construction material processing facility in the Bays Precinct.
In 2015, then NSW Premier Mike Baird announced the “White Bay Power Station and its surrounds would be transformed into global centre for high-tech jobs and innovation”, while Glebe Island would become a “technology and innovation campus”.
“The Government said we they were bringing Silicon Valley to the inner west, now all we are getting is concrete by the tonne,” said Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne.
“If this proceeds it will be an abject admission from the Government that their tech plans for the inner harbour are dead in the water.
“First, they botched the negotiations to bring Google headquarters to the White Bay Power Station.
“Now they’re apparently giving up on their dream of an international technology hub and looking at facility to process building materials 24 hours a day,” he said.
“What sort of environment is that to entice top level technological companies and universities?
“Last week, a Port Authority spokesperson at a community meeting with Pyrmont residents announced that the time-frame for this multi-use facility is 18-25 years,” he said.
In April 2017, Google cited the Government’s failure to provide any improvements to public transport or reopen the Glebe Island Bridge as the main reasons for abandoning plans to relocate their headquarters to the Precinct.
It has been reported the tech giant is now in secret talks to move its Australian headquarters to a site close to Carriageworks in Sydney’s inner south.