Barry O’Farrell’s coup on transport praised
- From:The Daily Telegraph
- March 08, 2012
- 1 comment
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No Moore … Premier Barry O’Farrell / Pic: Kristi Miller Source: The Daily Telegraph
BUSINESS groups have praised Premier Barry O’Farrell for taking the reins away from City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
The state government will have four seats at the seven-seat committee, giving it ultimate say over Sydney‘s transport future. The Premier said the CBD was too important to be “held hostage” to Ms Moore’s constituents.
Patricia Forsythe of the Sydney Business Chamber called this a “sensible approach”.
“Unless we get traffic flow right, there are many flow-on effects,” she said.
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Ms Forsythe said she would not lobby the government to get rid of bike lanes because many business owners were not opposed to them.
Urban Taskforce Australia CEO Chris Johnson said people travelling to the CBD for work should not be disregarded by planners.
“The prosperity of the state cannot be delegated to local governments who are focused mainly on their local voters,” Mr Johnson said. “There needs to be balance between all the transport networks.”
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia also supported the decision with CEO Brendan Lyon saying it was positive that ideology was being taken out of the equation.
“With congestion pressures costing Sydney and NSW billions of dollars each year, we need a joined up strategy that needs to be driven by better traffic and transport outcomes, not ideology,” Mr Lyon said.
Ms Moore asked Mr O’Farrell to explain how it differed from current arrangements, and argued it was business as usual. But with the government commanding the casting vote on the committee, the balance of power has shifted.
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