Save Our City Shops Alliance calls on the NSW Government to intervene and stop the City of Sydney from demolishing Sydney Town Hall shops

A coalition of union, business, retail, worker and community representatives has called on the New South Wales State Government to intervene and stop City of Sydney from demolishing Sydney Town Hall shops, warning it would destroy a thriving CBD retail precinct, force out long-standing businesses and put hundreds of local jobs at risk. 

The Save Our City Shops Alliance, launched today, including the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, Business Sydney, the Australian Retail Council, local business owners and the retail workers who stand to lose their jobs, says the proposal would come at a major cost to Sydney’s CBD at a time when governments should be focused on supporting jobs, services and economic activity. 

The City of Sydney will bulldoze buildings around the Town Hall precinct, removing essential shops and services used every day by residents, workers, students, tourists and visitors. 

The alliance says the precinct is not an empty or underused site, but an active retail and business hub that supports surrounding cafés, specialty retailers and local services through consistent customer traffic. 

It has warned that the loss of one of the CBD’s busiest supermarkets, along with surrounding businesses, would reduce convenience for city residents and workers, weaken foot traffic across the precinct and turn one of Sydney’s most important retail locations into a long-term construction zone.  

Members of the alliance say the demolition would plunge the City of Sydney Council into debt, costing taxpayers hundreds and millions of dollars in demolition costs, thousands of jobs to be lost, and disruption to public transport including bus, light rail and rail services across the city. 

Quotes attributable to Bernie Smith, NSW Branch Secretary, SDA 

“This proposal will slash over 300 retail jobs at a time when workers and their families are already under pressure from the rising cost of living.  

“These workers keep the CBD functioning for residents, office workers, students, tourists and visitors every day.  

“The demolition will reduce access to affordable groceries and services and will make the city a less practical place to live and work.” 

Quotes attributable to Paul Nicolaou, Executive Director, Business Sydney: 

“This is far from being an empty site. It is a working retail and business hub that supports local jobs, provides essential services and brings thousands of people into the heart of the city every day. 

“It is very significant that businesses, the retail sector and the union movement are united in opposition to an unnecessary town hall square that would remove the commercial heart of the CBD taking with it many businesses and jobs.  

There must now be very strong pressure on Premier Chris Minns and NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully to use the government’s planning powers to stop this project.  

The town hall precinct is already a story of lost opportunity involving potential new businesses and jobs. Almost an entire city block has been in limbo for decades.  

The precinct could have been the subject of sensible development for the benefit of our city’s economy, existing businesses and new ones capable of creating thousands of jobs.” 

Quotes attributable to Chris Rodwell, CEO, Australian Retail Council: 

“The proposed demolition of this important retail precinct would come at a significant cost to Sydney businesses, retail workers and the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on these stores every week.  

“The proposal would force established retailers from the precinct and turn one of Sydney’s busiest retail destinations into a long-term construction site, disrupting customers, workers and businesses throughout the surrounding CBD for years.  

“This precinct provides far more than retail space. Essential retail infrastructure such as one of Australia’s busiest supermarkets attracts customer traffic that supports surrounding cafés, specialty retailers and local businesses. It also ensures the growing population of CBD residents, workers and visitors has access to the everyday goods and services they need.  

“Busy retail precincts are one of the foundations of safe and welcoming cities. They keep people in the CBD throughout the day and into the evening, supporting surrounding businesses and creating the constant activity that makes city centres feel vibrant. There should also be a consideration of the operational impacts that a major civic gathering space may have on surrounding businesses, including protests and demonstrations.” 

The Save Our City Shops Alliance is calling on the NSW Government to intervene and stop the City of Sydney Council from demolishing the Town Hall shops and protect the businesses, workers, services and heritage that make the Town Hall precinct an important part of Sydney’s CBD.