Barangaroo, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Barangaroo is an inner-city area
of Sydney
, in the state of New South Wales
, Australia
. It is located on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district
and the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
. It is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney
.
The naming and redevelopment of Barangaroo was an initiative of the Government of New South Wales
to provide more commercial office space and recreational area for a growing Sydney population
.
was constructed in the area immediately bringing more people to the nascent villages around two public houses.
In 1843 the Australian Gas Light Company
finished building and began operating a gas works in East Darling Harbour. This was the beginning of major residential and dockland development in the area as employees needed to be housed near the works. The works also brought more commercial shipping into the harbour as the coal for the works had to be delivered by boat.
In 1859 a direct route from the Rocks
to Millers Point was created, The Argyle Cut. This made the journey back and forth from the main colony much safer and quicker. The route was a major catalyst for development in east Darling Harbour and Millers Point.
, labour shortages plagued the docks as most poor labourers headed out to the gold fields in Victoria
to strike it rich. The companies had to be become more flexible in meeting worker demands so they offered better pay and working conditions to workers who stayed in Sydney. In the 1860s storage facilities and warehouses had to be built out on Millers Point to accommodate the massive amount of bulk goods flowing through the port. By the 1870s the waterfront was covered in warehouses and storage depots, mostly holding the treasured export of the time, wool.
From 1880 to 1900, specialisation of the area occurred. Shipyards closed down in favour of storage facilities and bigger wharfs to accommodate contemporary ships with larger cargo loads were built. The skilled ship builders were therefore out of a job and had to find work else where, while more unskilled workers were needed to fill stevedoring positions. This shifted the demographics of the area significantly, turning it from a mix of skilled and unskilled workers to a working class neighbourhood.
in Sydney in 1900 was cause for alarm on the docks. Mass areas of Sydney were fenced off and people deported to North Head to be quarantined. Shipping operations were shut down for a period of time while Council decontaminated the area and exterminated disease ridden rats. During this time the ownership of the port was shifted from individually owned private wharfs to the Sydney Harbour Trust
. The trust dismantled the inadequate and unsafe docks and built finger wharfs large enough to facilitate large modern ships. By the end of the 1930s construction was complete, the wharfs dominated the waterfront from Millers point down to Darling Harbour.
”. During this period great masses of workers would line up down the mile long stretch of wharfs and wait for work.
Clerks chose the workers based on the “bull” system where the fitter men were chosen over the weaker, and where socialist troublemakers were sidelined in favour of willing workers. This brutal system made for a very adversarial environment which polarised the community at large. They erupted occasionally in protest, most famously refusing to load a boat with scrap metal bound for Japan on the eve of World War II
.
Following huge public outcry at changes to the original concept for the re-purposing of Barangaroo the area is now being nicknamed "the Greedy Mile" by community-based organisations such as the Friends of Barangaroo, Australians for Sustainable Development and the Barangaroo Action Group.
By the 1960s ships had become too big for the now inadequately small finger wharfs of East Darling Harbour. Standardized shipping container
sizes had eliminated the need for bulk offloading. One crane operator could now do the work of 50 men. The whole of what is known today as South Barangaroo was turned into a massive concrete apron
, the northern end followed similarly in the 1970s.
Flaws in the site’s modern shipping capability started to show. The lack of a heavy rail link or a b-double capable road limited the port’s capacity in processing in and outbound cargo. As container ships got bigger this problem only got worse. The ultimate demise of commercial shipping in Darling Harbour, and ultimately Sydney Harbour as a working harbour, was the construction of Port Botany in 1979. With excellent rail, road and air connections to the port, along with massive capacity for expansion and the ability to handle “supersized’ container ships, it would be the future port of Sydney.
The wharfs had been unusually free of union activity from the beginning of World War Two up until the mid-1990s, high wages and a steady stream of jobs kept them silent. Then in 1996 Howard Government
was elected into power promising industrial relations reform. In 1997 the Workplace Relations Act 1996
limited the bargaining power of Unions and sidelined the Australian Industrial Relations Committee’s ability to mediate negotiations as well as introducing statutory employee contracts.
Patrick Stevedoring
then in 1998 laid off all its workers and liquidated its assets after encountering backlash from the unions for the new workplace contracts taking advantage of the new legislation. But the very next day when work was expected to grind to a halt, everything was proceeding as if nothing happened. The employees were rehired by a new corporation with the same people who owned Patrick, just on a lower wage and with fewer concessions in their contracts.
In 2003 with the stevedoring companies set to move out within three years, the Government of New South Wales
slated the massive site for redevelopment into parklands and commercial space. They launched an international design contest in 2005 attracting over 100 submissions from around the world. In 2006 an Australian design firm Hill Thalis won the competition and the hunt for a developer began. To coincide with the new development being chosen the site was renamed Barangaroo after the wife of Bennelong
, a famous aboriginal from the first days of Sydney.
Finally in late 2006 Patrick Corporation, who leased the site from the State Government, moved their Stevedoring operations to Port Botany. This put an end to almost 130 years of cargo shipping operations in eastern Darling Harbour.
In 2008, before the site was redeveloped, Barangaroo was a World Youth Day 2008
site used for the opening mass for an estimated 150,000 people, concerts, a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross
and for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI
to Sydney.
determined that this site should be renewed as an extension of the Sydney CBD.
http://www.shfa.nsw.gov.au/sydney-Our_Places-Major_projects-Barangaroo.htm Barangaroo major projects.] Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.
The project comprises three stages: Barangaroo South, Barangaroo Central and the Headland Park.
is the southern third of the 22 hectare site.
Barangaroo South will be a green extension of Sydney's CBD, with office buildings, apartments, retail outlets, dynamic public spaces and a landmark international hotel.
Area
Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...
of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, in the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is located on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
and the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
. It is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
.
The naming and redevelopment of Barangaroo was an initiative of the Government of New South Wales
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
to provide more commercial office space and recreational area for a growing Sydney population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
.
History
This area was of great importance to Aboriginal people. It was a major hunting and fishing region. It is now named after a Kamaraygal woman- Barangaroo- who became one of Bennelong's wives.She did not, however agree with his working with the colonial government as a translator. Especially as it was her who taught him the various dialects of the Sydney region.European settlement
Originally known as Cockle Bay Point during the early years of the Sydney colony, little activity or settlement took place in the area. Then in the 1820s windmills were built out on what was to become known as Millers Point and European settlers started constructing houses and building a small village. In the 1830s the first wharfWharf
A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...
was constructed in the area immediately bringing more people to the nascent villages around two public houses.
In 1843 the Australian Gas Light Company
Australian Gas Light Company
The Australian Gas Light Company was an Australian gas and electricity retailer. It was formed in Sydney in 1837, and supplied town gas for the first public lighting of a street lamp in Sydney in 1841 AGL was the second company to list on the Australian Stock Exchange. The company gradually...
finished building and began operating a gas works in East Darling Harbour. This was the beginning of major residential and dockland development in the area as employees needed to be housed near the works. The works also brought more commercial shipping into the harbour as the coal for the works had to be delivered by boat.
In 1859 a direct route from the Rocks
The Rocks, New South Wales
The Rocks is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district...
to Millers Point was created, The Argyle Cut. This made the journey back and forth from the main colony much safer and quicker. The route was a major catalyst for development in east Darling Harbour and Millers Point.
Early shipping era
From the 1850s to the 1880s the docks and shipyards in East Darling Harbour multiplied tremendously, going from a coal and ferry drop off point to a hub of commercial shipping activity. During the gold rushGold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
, labour shortages plagued the docks as most poor labourers headed out to the gold fields in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
to strike it rich. The companies had to be become more flexible in meeting worker demands so they offered better pay and working conditions to workers who stayed in Sydney. In the 1860s storage facilities and warehouses had to be built out on Millers Point to accommodate the massive amount of bulk goods flowing through the port. By the 1870s the waterfront was covered in warehouses and storage depots, mostly holding the treasured export of the time, wool.
From 1880 to 1900, specialisation of the area occurred. Shipyards closed down in favour of storage facilities and bigger wharfs to accommodate contemporary ships with larger cargo loads were built. The skilled ship builders were therefore out of a job and had to find work else where, while more unskilled workers were needed to fill stevedoring positions. This shifted the demographics of the area significantly, turning it from a mix of skilled and unskilled workers to a working class neighbourhood.
Bubonic plague
The arrival of the bubonic plagueBubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
in Sydney in 1900 was cause for alarm on the docks. Mass areas of Sydney were fenced off and people deported to North Head to be quarantined. Shipping operations were shut down for a period of time while Council decontaminated the area and exterminated disease ridden rats. During this time the ownership of the port was shifted from individually owned private wharfs to the Sydney Harbour Trust
Sydney Harbour Trust
The Sydney Harbour Trust began operations on 1 November 1900 with responsibility for the Navigation Department and Marine Board of Sydney Harbour. The Trust, as governed by an act of the New South Wales Parliament consisted of three commissioners appointed by the Governor of New South Wales...
. The trust dismantled the inadequate and unsafe docks and built finger wharfs large enough to facilitate large modern ships. By the end of the 1930s construction was complete, the wharfs dominated the waterfront from Millers point down to Darling Harbour.
The Hungry Mile
The Great Depression gave East Darling Harbour and dock areas surrounding it a poignant nickname, “The Hungry MileThe Hungry Mile
The Hungry Mile is the name harbourside workers gave to the docklands area of Darling Harbour East, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in the Great Depression...
”. During this period great masses of workers would line up down the mile long stretch of wharfs and wait for work.
Clerks chose the workers based on the “bull” system where the fitter men were chosen over the weaker, and where socialist troublemakers were sidelined in favour of willing workers. This brutal system made for a very adversarial environment which polarised the community at large. They erupted occasionally in protest, most famously refusing to load a boat with scrap metal bound for Japan on the eve of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Following huge public outcry at changes to the original concept for the re-purposing of Barangaroo the area is now being nicknamed "the Greedy Mile" by community-based organisations such as the Friends of Barangaroo, Australians for Sustainable Development and the Barangaroo Action Group.
Modern shipping era
Shipping container
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes...
sizes had eliminated the need for bulk offloading. One crane operator could now do the work of 50 men. The whole of what is known today as South Barangaroo was turned into a massive concrete apron
Apron
An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear. The apron is commonly part of the uniform of several work categories, including waitresses, nurses, and domestic...
, the northern end followed similarly in the 1970s.
Flaws in the site’s modern shipping capability started to show. The lack of a heavy rail link or a b-double capable road limited the port’s capacity in processing in and outbound cargo. As container ships got bigger this problem only got worse. The ultimate demise of commercial shipping in Darling Harbour, and ultimately Sydney Harbour as a working harbour, was the construction of Port Botany in 1979. With excellent rail, road and air connections to the port, along with massive capacity for expansion and the ability to handle “supersized’ container ships, it would be the future port of Sydney.
The wharfs had been unusually free of union activity from the beginning of World War Two up until the mid-1990s, high wages and a steady stream of jobs kept them silent. Then in 1996 Howard Government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
was elected into power promising industrial relations reform. In 1997 the Workplace Relations Act 1996
Workplace Relations Act 1996
The Workplace Relations Act 1996 is an Australian law passed by the Howard Government after coming into power in 1996. It replaced the previous Labor Government's Industrial Relations Act 1988. It started operation on 1 January 1997 and provided for the continuation of the federal award system...
limited the bargaining power of Unions and sidelined the Australian Industrial Relations Committee’s ability to mediate negotiations as well as introducing statutory employee contracts.
Patrick Stevedoring
Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping, rail and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue...
then in 1998 laid off all its workers and liquidated its assets after encountering backlash from the unions for the new workplace contracts taking advantage of the new legislation. But the very next day when work was expected to grind to a halt, everything was proceeding as if nothing happened. The employees were rehired by a new corporation with the same people who owned Patrick, just on a lower wage and with fewer concessions in their contracts.
In 2003 with the stevedoring companies set to move out within three years, the Government of New South Wales
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
slated the massive site for redevelopment into parklands and commercial space. They launched an international design contest in 2005 attracting over 100 submissions from around the world. In 2006 an Australian design firm Hill Thalis won the competition and the hunt for a developer began. To coincide with the new development being chosen the site was renamed Barangaroo after the wife of Bennelong
Bennelong
Woollarawarre Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788...
, a famous aboriginal from the first days of Sydney.
Finally in late 2006 Patrick Corporation, who leased the site from the State Government, moved their Stevedoring operations to Port Botany. This put an end to almost 130 years of cargo shipping operations in eastern Darling Harbour.
World Youth Day
World Youth Day 2008
The 23rd World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was decided by Pope Benedict XVI, during the Cologne...
site used for the opening mass for an estimated 150,000 people, concerts, a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
and for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
to Sydney.
Redevelopment
As stevedoring operations moved to ports at Port Botany and Port Kembla, the Government of New South WalesGovernment of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
determined that this site should be renewed as an extension of the Sydney CBD.
http://www.shfa.nsw.gov.au/sydney-Our_Places-Major_projects-Barangaroo.htm Barangaroo major projects.] Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.
The project comprises three stages: Barangaroo South, Barangaroo Central and the Headland Park.
Barangaroo South
Barangaroo SouthBarangaroo South
Barangaroo South is an extensive harbourfront site along the western edge of Sydney's Central Business District.The NSW Government is managing the transformation of the entire 22 hectare Barangaroo area while the creation of Barangaroo South - comprising the southern third of the site - is being...
is the southern third of the 22 hectare site.
Barangaroo South will be a green extension of Sydney's CBD, with office buildings, apartments, retail outlets, dynamic public spaces and a landmark international hotel.