LATE last Friday afternoon, the State Government quietly took over the City of Sydney council. The Deputy Premier and Minister for World Youth Day, John Watkins, used sweeping powers under the World Youth Day Act to "prescribe" the City of Sydney as a government agency - which means he can direct it to do whatever the World Youth Day Co-ordination Authority requests.
Mr Watkins then wrote to the council ordering it to allow a set of radical traffic changes he says are necessary to ease the passage of pilgrims during the event.
As many as 225,000 pilgrims are expected to converge on the city as part of the six-day Catholic festival, from July 15 to 20, the climax of which will be a visit by the Pope.
The changes, which the council has thus far resisted, include the removal of a bike lane on Park Street, the introduction of up to seven new bus lanes and plans to run up to 60 buses an hour to and from the Domain bus layover.
The council also held concerns about the reintroduction of eastbound buses and pedestrian fencing along Druitt Street, where 13 people have been hit by buses in the past two years.
Amendments to the World Youth Day Act made late last year allow the minister to "direct certain government agencies to comply with a request, direction or decision of the World Youth Day Co-ordination Authority".
Mr Watkins could not rule out using his new powers to force the council to do other things and refused to say if other councils or organisations would be prescribed as government agencies.
He said the traffic changes were temporary and essential for the smooth running of Sydney during World Youth Day.
"The Ministry of Transport has sought approval under the World Youth Day Act for new configurations in George, Elizabeth, Druitt and Park streets to accommodate the bus services that are required for World Youth Day. That consent has been received and work will now begin," he said.
Consent was only given after the minister directed the council to grant consent last Friday.
The Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is in China but her political ally, Cr Marcelle Hoff, said she was "astonished that this type of heavy-handed pressure is being applied. "There is this real push to have the bus lanes changed. The Government has wanted that all along and now they are doing it under this World Youth Day Act," she said.
Cr Hoff said she also objected to orders from the authority that the council remove a park at the end of Parkham Street in Surry Hills, to allow free passage during the World Youth Day pilgrimage walk on Saturday, July 19.
A group of Parkham Street residents yesterday organised a protest against the tree removals with one, David Reeder, saying the pilgrims should just walk around the trees.
The World Youth Day Co-ordination Authority will pay to have the park replaced when World Youth Day is over.
A spokesman for World Youth Day, Jim Hanna, said "We did not request the ammendment to the World Youth Day Act [allowing the government to direct the council] and we knew nothing about it."
The president of the Local Government Association, Genia McCaffery, warned that the World Youth Day Act gave the Government unprecedented powers.
"I think we have to be careful about how communities are being disempowered under the guise of 'You need this for security or to make this event successful'. Part of living in a democracy is consultation and coming up with better decisions together."
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