Sydney to get its first new inner-city suburb in decades as Glebe Island becomes Bays West

Sydney to get its first new inner-city suburb in decades as Glebe Island becomes Bays West ‘City-shaping’ transformation of industrial precinct to include more than 8,500 new homes and public waterfront access Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Sydney will get its first new inner city suburb – known as Bays West – in decades, giving public waterfront access to Glebe Island for the first time in more than 100 years alongside 8,500 new homes. The New South Wales government on Tuesday announced that a long-awaited overhaul of the government-owned land, directly above the under-construction Bays Metro station and near the western end of the Anzac Bridge, will go ahead. It means Sydneysiders will farewell Glebe Island’s distinctive 1970s industrial silos as part of the “city-shaping” transformation, which will open up the long-underused site, stretching from Rozelle Bay to White Bay, 2km from the CBD. Ten percent, or at least 700, of its new homes will be affordable and earmarked for essential workers, while 25% of the land will be given to open space. It will remain in public hands. Affordable housing is generally defined as housing that costs less than 30% of a household’s gross income. Chris Minns said the government hoped the site would offer a place that is close to work, services and transport for new residents. “Importantly, this precinct will include affordable and essential worker housing from day one, so nurses, teachers, paramedics and police can live closer to the communities they serve,” the NSW premier said in a statement. To make way for the homes, Glebe Island’s cement, gypsum and sugar handling will close by 2030, with the state government putting $270m into transport infrastructure at Port Kembla port, south of Sydney. Deep water port facilities, with the potential to accommodate naval ships, will be kept at White Bay, to which some Glebe Island port operations will be relocated, including the handling of salt. The White Bay cr...