The Platypus site in Neutral Bay will soon be converted into a public park for people in Sydney and the rest of Australia, thanks to the recent announcement by the government officials. The Australian government has decided to provide a $20 million funding to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to help them carry out the transformation.

The announcement about the government funding was made yesterday by Jamie Briggs, the Minister for Cities and the Built Environment. Kevin McCann, the chair of the Harbour Trust is happy that the government has fulfilled its long-standing commitment to provide funding to the company so that it is able to open the Platypus site for public.

Previously, the Harbour Trust was provided with a $46 million funding under the Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Defence in 2009. Using the fundings, the company successfully decontaminated the site that was essentially used for industrial purposes, primarily gaswork.

Although decontamination was completed within budget, the rest of the site continues to remain in the delinquent state. Harbour Trust wishes to use the new funding to further improve the state of the military heritage that has been restricted from public since last 140 years. McCann is hopeful that the converted site will “ultimately become a much-loved new urban parkland.”

“Our job now is to make this site safe and usable for the public. Facilitating public access will be our priority. Although we have not yet finalised our specific plans for this new phase of works, their focus will be on maximising public access in a way that meets the community’s needs, ” said McCann, in a press release.

Harbour Trust is planning to work in close collaboration with the community to bring in the transformation. The proposed initiatives include access to recreational boat-going public, construction of pedestrian links and upgrade of the Retort Building.

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