NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully has halted work on the City of Sydney's $150 million Town Hall Square project, which aims to create a civic plaza for community events. The minister’s decision, made on Thursday, forces the Independent Planning Commission to determine if the project should be considered state significant development due to its cost and potential impact on culturally and commercially important buildings. Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Miller expressed disappointment over this move, citing years of planning and community feedback as justification for proceeding with the project.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully halted the City of Sydney's $150 million Town Hall Square project, preventing further development applications or demolition orders. The project aims to create a 4,500-square-meter civic plaza for community events but faces opposition from unions concerned about job losses. Bernie Smith, secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association NSW, warned that demolishing seven buildings, including a Woolworths supermarket, would put up to 1,000 jobs at risk. The Independent Planning Commission will now assess if the project should be considered "state significant development," potentially giving the state government more control over it. Lord Mayor Clover Moore criticized Scully's intervention as an unprecedented move that could delay or block the project entirely.
Written for “Sydney Town Hall Project Halted” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
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answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
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No political leaning scored for article 15106 · logged 2026-09-17
In short:
NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully has forced the City of Sydney's Town Hall project to pause work on the development.
asserted
Scully → force → development
Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Miller is disappointed by the sudden halt to the project, which has been in train since the city bought land for the project in the 1980s.
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city → disappoint → 1980s
The Independent Planning Commission will advise whether or not the project should be considered a state significant development.
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project → advise → ?
NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully has hit the brakes on the City of Sydney's $150 million Town Hall Square project, forcing the project to be examined by the Independent Planning Commission.
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Scully → hit → Commission
Mr Scully issued a direction to the council on Thursday, preventing it from determining development applications or demolition orders in relation to the project.
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Scully → issue → project
The council envisages a 4,500-square-metre civic plaza opposite Town Hall as a gathering point for community events, music events and markets.
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council → envisage → events
Speaking with 702 ABC Sydney, Mr Scully said he believed it could be considered a "state significant development", given the cost of the project and the demolition of "cultural and commercially" significant buildings.
uncertain
it → speak → buildings
"I feel it could meet the definition of state or regional planning significance,"Mr Scully said.
"
uncertain
Scully → feel → definition
I want to get that advice from the Independent Planning Commission.
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I → want → Commission
City of Sydney Deputy Mayor Jess Miller slammed the decision as "disappointing", arguing the council had planned the project for a long time.
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council → slam → time
"We're going to have a huge increase of population in the city of Sydney.
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We → go → Sydney
We're going to need new public squares," she told 702 ABC Sydney.
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she → go → Sydney
"It's been done very thoughtfully.
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It → do → ?
We've saved up our pennies.
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We → save → pennies
"We've done all the right things and to have the kind of state significant magic wand kind of waved over this is really awful."
Plans for the square have been on display for community feedback since early August, with artist impressions showing the open square with a water feature and a curved grove of native trees.
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Plans → do → trees
The council resolved in February this year to move ahead with the design and construction of the square, with a unanimous decision to fast-track demolition work of the buildings on land the city has obtained since the 1980s.
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city → resolve → 1980s
Union backs government move
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Union → back → move
The proposal has drawn opposition from the retail workers union, which argues the demolition of seven buildings, including a Woolworths supermarket, retail stores and a pub, will put 1,000 jobs at risk.
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association NSW state secretary Bernie Smith said 300 of those jobs were in the Woolworths and Big W on the corner building.
"There's not a suitable floor space currently available to relocate that shop, as far as we are aware, that would actually preserve all of those jobs," Mr Smith said.
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Smith → draw → jobs
"Our members' jobs are potentially at risk depending on the outcome."
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jobs → depend → outcome
Cr Miller told 702 ABC Sydney the supermarket would be able to find an alternative location "200 metres down the road".
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supermarket → tell → road
"Of all of my sympathies, they're not being extended to one of the biggest multinational or big corporate companies," she said.
"
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she → extend → companies
The jobs won't disappear."
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jobs → disappear → ?
Mr Smith hit back at Cr Miller's comments, saying the deputy mayor should "spend less time in Town Hall and maybe a bite more time in her community to realise what's really going on across the road".
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what → hit → road
Advocacy group Business Sydney head Paul Nicolau, who opposes the plan, said the supermarket was the only full-service kind in the CBD and was "vital to the future of a city where more people are choosing to live".
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people → oppose → city
"Thoughts of a Town Hall Square might have been a nice-to-have when the concept was first mooted more than 30 years ago," Mr Nicolau said.
uncertain
Nicolau → have → Square
Both Mr Nicolau and Mr Smith supported the government's move to have it assessed by the planning commission.
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it → support → commission
The Aporia
