Lucy Turnbull has spoken about the structure and goals of the Greater Sydney Commission, and what its plans are for the next few years.

In an interview with Dallas Rogers for The Conversation, Turnbull said the GSC is developing district plans for each of Sydney’s six districts, and that drafts will be available for comment later in the year. Turnbull said that planning for Badgery’s Creek and the Parramatta region has also begun.

Turnbull also that the commission is looking at best practice, and “How to ensure best practice for district planning and integrated land use,” and ways to provide a triple-bottom-line model for city planning.

Turnbull addressed concerns the commission will employ a top-down approach, and not allow for adequate community consultation. She said the GSC fits into the gap between the high level work of the state government and the scale of the local governments. “The intention of the GSC is to be a bridge so there can be an enterprise that looks at Sydney as a metropolitan entity,” she said.

“The key to our effectiveness will the extent to which we can collaborate and work with local government on the one hand and various departments on the other,” said Turnbull

“I would argue that you need some linkage of the levels of government to deliver, because until quite recently there has been a massive underinvestment in infrastructure and housing and integrated planning to deliver good, positive growth, in terms of enhancing livability, and enhancing connectivity."

The GSC, said Turnbull, is “what is needed to develop Sydney’s very high level of population growth.”

The three levels of government might be brought together for major developments, such as Badgery’s Creek, said Turnbull. “Three levels of government – city deals – could be a model of how we do business,” she said, referring to a UK model.

Turnbull stated that involvement of the private sector was essential to the GSC’s work. “It’s very important to engage with the private sector in a very strategic way because they often have an understanding of what the variabilities are as to whether the plans and objectives are deliverable in an economically passable way,” she said.

Turnbull also spoke about her vision for Sydney.

“Heritage and green space are fundamentally important. I think people will be very encouraged to see that one of our mandates is to roll out the ‘green grid’, where one of our key tasks is to re-green a grid right across metropolitan Sydney.

“Our mandate is to create a well planned poly-centric city, where you have the city, which is right on the eastern edge, Parramatta, which is right in the middle, and the other big urban strategic centres, and to make all those poly-centres work, and make them really well connected,” she said.

See also:

How infrastructure is changing the face of Sydney