6 July 2023
North Sydney Council mayor Zoe Baker wants to pledge $9 million to make the long-planned Miller Street plaza a reality.
Council first proposed the idea in 2018, which would see Miller St outside the planned Victoria Cross metro station closed to traffic and turned into a plaza.
In a mayoral note to be delivered next week, Baker says “Miller Place seeks to transform Miller Street from a busy four lane street to a new high grade activated public space providing a space to gather, host events such as outdoor concerts and markets and a place for public art. With large canopy trees, lawns and access to sunlight for most of the day, this new “place” will establish a much needed civic heart for the North Sydney CBD.”
She says it will also accommodate tens of thousands of commuters, students and visitors arriving via the new Victoria Cross Metro Station and the North Sydney Train Station portal from Greenwood Plaza each morning
“However, in order to be realised, the project requires support and funding from transport for NSW as it requires network and bus route changes around the CBD. TfNSW has been considering the initiative and the required changes for some years,” she says.
With the Metro construction underway, Baker says there is a finite window in order to ensure that the Miller Place initiative is delivered with the least additional cost, disruption and inconvenience to the CBD and Miller Street, in particular.
“I propose that Council approach the NSW Government and pledge a contribution of $9M towards the delivery of Miller Place concurrent with the Metro, as Council’s commitment to the project,” she says.