It also incorporates The Green, an existing 8000 square metre sports ground. The plans are on exhibition until February 10.
Davis said the proposal would protect the Female Factory or “cultural precinct”, large trees and about 30 significant heritage buildings while locking in more than 21 hectares of open space.
“Our government recognises we are in the midst of a housing crisis that is leaving our next generation with nowhere to live,” she said.
“We need to deliver a mixed-use precinct that respects the past whilst planning for the future … That’s what I will continue to constructively advocate for.”
The rezoning proposal is designed to make the most of the light-rail line and Westmead health and innovation district.Credit: NSW government
Charlton said he feared the plan would jeopardise the push from state and federal governments to get the Female Factory on the UNESCO World Heritage List, noting the government was “rezoning right up to its very edge”.
“It’s got the capacity to be a tourist attraction like Port Arthur, to have the cultural significance of The Rocks, and that vision is being lost for a knee-jerk reaction to put housing into Parramatta,” he said.
Charlton said Parramatta was already “doing the heavy lifting on dwelling approvals”, and it had “approved the most housing of every single local government area in this financial year to date”.
“I understand there are significant constraints on the state government in terms of funding the heritage preservation, but I want a solution that preserves the heritage core for future generations.”
The Parramatta Female Factory is subject to a long-running campaign to win a spot on the World Heritage List.Credit: Kate Geraghty
The federal Labor government added the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct to Australia’s list of tentative World Heritage items in 2023, the first step towards a full listing. A preliminary assessment was submitted to UNESCO for review in November.
North Parramatta Residents Action Group spokeswoman Suzette Mead pointed to Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley, which lost its World Heritage listing after local authorities built a much-debated road bridge.
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“It’s what’s occurring outside [the Female Factory] that is going to have implications. We’ve said it for a decade – the heritage should inform any future use of the site, not development inform the future of the heritage.”
Kamper said the government had cut building heights to three storeys directly north of the precinct, and he had “not seen any evidence this rezoning would negatively impact” the listing process.
“The Colosseum is next door to six storeys. Westminster Abbey and Hall has eight storeys over the road. Hyde Park Barracks has 20 storeys over the road. Each of these sites is World Heritage listed.
“The idea that we can’t put a modest development of three storeys adjacent to the cultural precinct without damaging the heritage value is not logical.”
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Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said heritage precincts and housing could co-exist, and developing the site would capitalise on the $2.9 billion Parramatta light rail investment.
Borger, a former Labor housing minister who chairs the Housing Now lobby group, said authorities needed to prioritise well-located homes in a housing crisis.
“We have to breathe new life into heritage precincts, and that means ensuring they’re accessible and there’s housing around them.”
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