NSW Minister: Olympic Park and Darling Harbour are 'dead and lifeless'

David Borger, the NSW Government's Minister for Western Sydney and Minister for Roads, has broken ranks with Labor collagues by labelling Sydney Olympic Park and Darling Harbour as "urban failures" which are "dead and lifeless".

In a remarkable admission for a NSW Minister, Borger warned a forum on Sydney's roads that the city needed to be careful not to repeat past urban planning mistakes stating "Woolloomooloo, Barangaroo potentially - Darling Harbour, Sydney Olympic Park, Honeysuckle in Newcastle, the Church Street mall (Parramatta), High Street in Penrith - in my view all of them are urban failures because they don't have natural movement corridors.

"They can't support high-end retail and they feel dead and lifeless and we are always trying to put things into them to make them work.

"But ultimately they haven't worked well because they haven't had the wonderful street systems that are part of old successful places. We need to be careful when we do decide to make changes to the urban street network that we don't have unintended consequences."

Minister Borger was speaking on a panel with New York's transport commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, who has been credited with easing congestion in one of the world's busiest cities.

Sadik-Khan was a guest of the City of Sydney Council, which is trying to make the city more friendly for bicycles and pedestrians.

As part of its 2030 strategy, George Street would become a plaza with light rail running up and down its spine.

Minister Borger did not commit to the council's plan, warning that care was needed not to worsen the situation, adding âwe have had a series of urban interventions in the last 30 years where we have closed streets and they haven't always worked.

"We need to be really careful, Manhattan is an absolutely unique precinct.

"There is almost limitless route choice in a way that just doesn't exist in most places within Australia."