I’ve lived in what is now called Cremorne for over thirty years and have seen a great deal of change in the neighbourhood. There has never been much evidence of careful urban planning, apart from a progressive encouragement to include commerce and industry, which has led to an eclectic mishmash of character, uses and architecture.

These days what was once a depressed industrial backwater inhabited by psychopathic drug lords is now a funky design precinct where creative industry and young hipster families are eager to move in.  It is now seen as a desirable suburb close to the CBD with its own distinctive vibe.  This means more people in the streets, both workers and residents.  Also, the roads are now properly paved (mostly), there are more street trees and there’s a bit of extra street-scaping on Balmain St. However, overall public space, if anything, has shrunk.

Cremorne is now increasingly attracting more and larger developments for people to live and work in. Should we be seeing greater Council and developer contributions to public open space for the area?