Time to Rethink: Fresh Bid to Unlock Prison’s Prime Site for Homes

Old prisons on what were once fringe city sites but are now prime locations are increasingly in the sights of government and developers keen to meet housing undersupplies. Historic facilities such as Brisbane’s Boggo Road Gaol and Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison are being reworked as mixed-use precincts. Now, an infamous Sydney facility being considered for redevelopment is in the crosshairs. The Long Bay Correctional Facility, nicknamed the Malabar Hilton, opened on the site 15km south-east from the Sydney CBD in 1909 as NSW’s main prison. It has served as a maximum-security facility for more than a century and includes a mix of cell blocks, a hospital and specialised units for high-risk inmates. Over the decades, it has housed a wide range of offenders, from petty criminals to notorious gangsters. Its most infamous inmates include Australian organised crime figures such as George Freeman and Arthur ‘Neddy’ Smith. The potential for a new purpose for the site of Long Bay has been raised again by the NSW Opposition, as the state falls well short of its housing target. Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest says Long Bay jail is “Dickensian”. “It’s way past its use-by date in every single respect. It occupies this pristine little nub of land; the amenity is fantastic, there’s everything to love about that area, except it’s massively underutilised,” Forrest says. “We can protect the heritage buildings, but there is a massive tract of land that should be developed into housing for a growing Sydney.” ▲ Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest: A large tract of land that should be developed into housing for a growing Sydney. The NSW Liberals propose a 50ha masterplan of 12,000 homes, with 30 per cent of housing allotted as social and affordable, and a new correctional facility to be built outside the city. But that idea was, not surprisingly, met with reluctance by the NSW Labor Government, which has focused heavily on transport-oriented density particularly around train and Metro stations. Long Bay has neither. “We should see this as an urban renewal opportunity, an opportunity to revitalise and renew the entire south-east precinct of Sydney,” Forrest says. “In time, that will require a mass public transport solution, but we shouldn’t be saying we’re not going to do anything because it could cause some difficulty with transport, it’s a chicken-and-egg conundrum.” Urbis director Sophy Purton says the state is well behind on achieving its housing target. ▲ Shayher Group’s $1-billion Pentridge Prison redevelopment in Melbourne includes an Adina Hotel. “So at the moment, anything we can do to move the dial [is important],” Purton says. The Government has successfully moved ahead with a number of precincts including Woollahra, which is being rezoned for 10,000 new homes surrounding a renewed train station. But it has struggled with others, including Rosehill . Train links a stumbling block While a lack of train transport links is a major sticking point for the rezoning of Long Bay, there is a precedent of sorts, according to Forrest. “I worked on the 2008 plan for the development of the Metro system, of which Stage One was the north-west Metro line, and it was built basically on time and on budget once the funding was secured with the sale of the electricity assets,” he said. “[That’s] because all the planning had already been done on the route and to identify where the stations were going to be.” The same investigative work has been done already for the south-east Metro line, but this has been collecting dust for almost two decades, Forrest says. “The second stage of the 2008 Iemma government plan was to be an extension of the Metro out to the south-east, and once you get to the Kensington roundabout, you go above ground along a viaduct all the way down to Long Bay,” he says. “The Government knows exactly what route that would be and how they would run it and where they would run it. “In fact, the Secretary of Transport for NSW, Josh Murray, was Iemma’s chief of staff when the 2008 plan was launched.” ▲ A rendering of the Shayher Group’s Pentridge Prison development that was approved last year. Rezoning the Long Bay precinct would stimulate a revitalisation of the broader south-east region, he says. “You would be able to replace all the social housing with new social and affordable housing, which has modern thermal performance standards and safety standards,” Forrest says. “The key is to add heaps of housing supply to the area. After all, it’s close to beaches, close to employment, including in the airport and Botany Bay precinct along with Port Botany and Mascot, and it’s only a short hop to the CBD. “What this revitalisation plan needs is a kick-start with rezoning and a public transport plan starting with bus augmentation. “The Government might say, we’re not going to build a Metro line down there because there’s not enough demand. “But there’s not enough demand because you won’t let there be enough demand. This is a missed opportunity in a period of housing supply crisis.” Masterplanned sites solving housing crisis It was a definitive “no” to selling Long Bay when the question was posed in NSW Parliament last year, however it remains one worth consideration, proponents say. “We’re looking at large-scale areas that could facilitate the delivery of housing, so it’s highlighting a potential option and solution to large-scale housing delivery,” Purton says. “And any large-scale landholding that could be readily serviced presents a positive opportunity to deliver housing, particularly if it’s matched with transport infrastructure and, in particular, light rail, or some other form of rail. “It has the potential to be a really positive outcome in terms of connecting that area. But at the moment, no finer details have been provided.” ▲ The abandoned Woollahra station will be reactivated as part of a 10,000-home rezoning. Purton warns getting excited by the Long Bay idea would not be wise. “From an immediate planning perspective, there’s not a whole lot of room to ... focus in on that, particularly when there are already a number of other areas that are identified,” she says. But it is worth serious consideration, says Forrest. “We’re 25,000 houses per year behind the Accord target,” he says. “Yes, the Housing Delivery Authority will improve things, absolutely no doubt. The passage of the new Planning Reform Bill will also help. “But one of the key problems is going to be a lack of feasibility. The other is infrastructure which supports growth.” ▲ Urbis associate director Sophy Purton: anything we can do to move the dial is important. So at this stage, any and all projects need to be considered, especially when they are prime locations, including Long Bay, as well as Frenchs Forest and Flemington Markets, Forrest says. “Rather than closing our mind to the opportunities in Sydney’s south-east and south-west, we should be opening our minds to drive supply in these locations. “We should be looking at substantial, increased, height and density at Long Bay, Little Bay ... at Maroubra and Malabar, and Matraville and ... up to Kensington. “There’s no area of Sydney better serviced by green open space and beaches. The area is replete with golf courses. There is blue and white collar employment nearby. “It’s time for a rethink.”

Time to Rethink: Fresh Bid to Unlock Prison’s Prime Site for Homes

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