Decision details

Moved by Councillor Maxwell, seconded by Councillor Miller–

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         hoardings are commonly used to create a barrier between worksites and the public for safety purposes. This is commonly seen in the City of Sydney when buildings are being renovated, expanded, or under construction;

(ii)        the artwork on these hoardings has to be approved by the City of Sydney;

(iii)      currently there is the option to leave spaces in the hoarding artwork to allow local businesses who are still operating in the building to let people know they are still open and inside the building;

(iv)      many local businesses have had issues with decreased foot traffic and no visibility when hoardings are put up and they have no visibility on the street front;

(v)       while it is explicitly allowed in City of Sydney policy that there can be space in the hoardings artwork to allow for the advertisement of local businesses many applicants do not know that is an option, hurting the businesses located inside; and

(vi)      this is a knowledge gap that needs to be closed between applicants and the City of Sydney to help support the visibility of our businesses; and

(B)      the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)         make it more explicit to hoarding applicants that there is the opportunity to have visibility for the businesses in their building as a part of the hoarding artwork application process;

(ii)        ensure the City of Sydney’s policy (the Local Approvals Policy for Construction Related Temporary Structures On and Above Roads) is more explicit and understandable by applicants to help promote the visibility of local businesses;

(iii)      ensure the policy is visible on the City’s website and in any digital application processes; and

(iv)      ensure steps are taken so that the builders and owner’s corporations engage with all building occupants prior to a hoarding being installed. This provides an opportunity for businesses to be included in the hoarding artwork design by having the relevant parties communicate directly.

Carried unanimously.

X113762