Council said the revitalisation of the city centre was critical to Liverpool's economic development as it would attract new commercial development, consolidate Liverpool as a hub for commercial, community and retail services, improve connectivity between different precincts and boost community pride.
Liverpool City Council and the University of Sydney formed a partnership to host the Liverpool Urban Design Symposium in August 2013, with the key objective to obtain a wide range of specialist, stakeholder and community perspectives as input for redevelopment and revitalisation of the city centre.
Over 20 local and general experts spoke on a number of topics, including economic development, housing, social, business, planning and development, transport, heritage and landscape issues.
Members of the local business community and residents, academics, government leaders, urban planning specialists and postgraduate students in urban design attended the symposium.
Council engaged Professor Edward Blakely, of the United States Studies Centre, at Sydney University, as honorary advisor to the revitalisation project.
The outcome is that council is actively engaged with the NSW Government Architect's Office and urban designers and planners, Architectus, SJB Urban and Urbis, to finalise the revitalisation project plan – Building Our New City/
Three Community consultation workshops have been held to ensure the proposed projects meet the needs of the Liverpool community.
The transformation begins with five key revitalisation projects.
• City nerve centre: Connect people working or using one of Australia’s largest health and medical precinct employing over 5000 people to the shops, transport and services within the city centre
• City Eat Street: A lively café strip around the southern end of the city centre with restaurants, coffee shops and nightlife catering to all ages, tastes and budgets.
• Macquarie Mall: Revitalise the existing mall to create a vibrant hub that showcases and connects the diverse mix of shops in surrounding streets.
• Urban Breathing Spaces: Establish new green linkages between the city centre and the Georges River and transform Bigge Park into an integrated public space for time out, recreation and community celebrations.
• Gateways: New defined entry points into the city centre to create a sense of arrival and to redefine the .the identity of the city.
The city was turning the tables on its reputation as a “second rate regional location to Parramatta and Penrith and we are looking to create a whole different atmosphere here,” Liverpool Mayor, Ned Mannoun, reportedly said
The delivery of public sector jobs, revitalisation of the town centre and the possible announcement of a university campus could all help drive Liverpool’s growth; we also need to get corporate Australia to invest in Liverpool and get more jobs created, he said.
Elsewhere, council has appointed Rob Noble, as acting CEO following the departure of Farooq Portelli. “Things have not worked as well as they should have in the last six months,” Mr Noble is reported to have said.
Mr Noble was CEO of Rockhampton City and Caboolture Shire Councils, and was acting general manager of the City of Newcastle.
