The government is considering an unsolicited planning proposal to redevelop and further commercialise the former Moore Park showground site with new buildings up to 20 storeys high under a 99-year lease. The current use of the Entertainment Quarter part of the land is permitted only as ‘ancillary’ to the film, television and video production facility and when the lease was signed the then government promised that the land would be returned to the public once the lease was up, with this an express requirement in the lease.

The inner city is experiencing massive population growth with demand for open space and sport and recreation facilities skyrocketing. With diminishing land opportunities to meet that demand, the government should work to protect public land already dedicated for public recreation from commercial development.

Together with lord mayor Clover Moore, whose 1992 legislation prevented plans to sell and redevelop the land when the showgrounds were earmarked for relocation, I am writing to the Premier and Minister for Public Spaces to call for these plans to be withdrawn and for the land to be used for public benefit as it was intended.

The proposal: HERE