James Packer's $1.5 billion casino project at Barangaroo continues to divide Sydney – some the city's biggest sporting names have spoken in support of the project, which its original architect instead describes as "offensive" and a "scandal".
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A little less than 40 submissions about the project were released in full by the state government on Wednesday. It is considering a modified plan for the casino, which would have it stand at 275 metres at its highest point.
About six positive submissions were received, 20 objections – mostly from members of the public – and the balance were neutral.
The head of the NRL, Dave Smith, said the project would provide employment for Indigenous school-leavers seeking employment in an NRL program, School to Work.
NRL franchise the Penrith Panthers also "enthusiastically endorse[d] … a landmark project with far-reaching benefits in terms of jobs, training and indigenous education".
A training centre for Barangaroo's more than 1200 employees will be run at a Penrith Panthers facility.
Others were less positive.
Hill Thalis, the architecture firm that won a 2006 design contest for Barangaroo, said the state government's consultation on the project was largely a pretence.
"[It] has failed to take any notice of any submission about the many failings of Barangaroo as it has developed since 2007," its submission, by Philip Thalis, reads.
Controversially, the project has nearly doubled in size in the 10 years since the original plans were lodged.
That increase amounts to a "scandal" and an "invasive privatisation" that lacks "any credible planning or urban design justification for its excesses", Mr Thalis said.
The architect says the project – about half of which will be devoted to residential apartments – has no space set aside for affordable housing, unlike other developments of a similar scale.
Chris Johnson, an architect and now head of the Urban Taskforce, which represents developers' interests, argued by contrast that the building needed to stand out from the rest of the cityscape because it was a landmark.
"The architecture of the hotel is exceptional as a sculptural form clad in glass and masonry," Mr Johnson wrote. He said its architectural style "relates to the flowing forms of Sydney Harbour".
The Panthers, according to attached donation disclosures, has directed more than $10,000 to various state and federal Liberal party causes and dinners.
But the project won backing from a group closely associated with the other side of the political aisle, the United Voice Union.
The union, which represents casino workers, and has donated in excess of $200,000 to the Labor Party, said the $1.5 billion project would be a boon for its members.
"[The proposal] brings employment, training and workforce development opportunities above and beyond any other currently in Sydney," its secretary, Mark Boyd, wrote.
Eighteen submissions from members of the public were received, with local councillors and independent MP and Clover Moore ally Alex Greenwich among them.
Only one public submission was classified by the department as supportive of the project. From Travis Chambers, it read in its entirety: "I am very in favour of the design. I just wish it wasn't a millionaires' playground."
