Editorial
Let’s bring Sydney city markets back to life
Paddy’s Markets in Haymarket is a venerable Sydney institution that has lost its way, so news that the venues’ owners are proceeding with a comprehensive revamp of the site is welcome and overdue.
Dozens of new shops and eateries are planned, with a focus along the Hay Street frontage facing the light rail line, and work is set to start within weeks.
Paddy’s Markets in Haymarket is set for a revamp.Credit: Kate Geraghty
If fully realised, the vision outlined by Sydney Markets Limited would revitalise a precinct that has been surpassed by its livelier neighbours, such as the thriving Darling Square complex across the street.
The plan calls for about 3000 square metres of floor space in Paddy’s Markets to be sublet to Doltone Hospitality Group for an upmarket food, beverage and events zone.
It has pitted the site’s owners against many of the existing market stallholders, who fear being shouldered aside into less accessible, less profitable corners of the building.
A bitter legal dispute between the two parties has now been resolved, with the NSW Supreme Court ruling that the development process can go ahead.
The stallholders, many of whom have been selling their wares from the same stands for decades, must be looked after. The site should remain an authentic market.
But it would be wrong to characterise the stoush as a David-and-Goliath struggle between the city’s heritage and the corporate forces of progress.
Change has been a constant for Paddy’s Markets since the first traders set up there in the 1830s. Haymarket got its name from the hay and grain sale yards built there, but soon traders of all types set up shop in the vicinity.
Historical accounts describe a fairground atmosphere in the mostly open-air market complex that hosted a circus and sideshows as well as the ubiquitous fruit and vegetable stalls. It stayed open until 10pm on Saturdays in an era when most Sydney establishments closed with the setting of the sun.
One of the Hay Street entrances to the markets.Credit: Kate Geraghty
The markets moved between buildings in the same district several times, before the biggest shift took place in 1975 when most of the fruit and vegetable sellers went west to the new markets at Flemington.
As the Herald has previously reported, the market in its current form has simply been left behind by changing consumer preferences, online shopping and the pandemic. Most of the floor space is taken up by stalls selling cheap souvenirs, toys, jewellery and clothes. It is not the best use of a very large block on the edge of the CBD.
Overseas city markets such as London’s Covent Garden and Grand Central Market in Los Angeles have shown that traditional markets can be turned into stylish dining destinations without losing their roots. Closer to home, Adelaide Central Market and Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market are rightly regarded as important local icons by the citizens of those cities. Both are destinations that serve residents and tourists alike.
Sydney, with the harbour, the bridge, Opera House and much else besides, is perhaps a tougher market when it comes to icons. But the fact remains that Paddy’s Market should be a much more enticing attraction than it is now, and other city markets are models that show how this can happen.
Change is already coming to the south-western approaches of the CBD, with Ultimo, Pyrmont and the Railway Square precinct slated for much more high-density development. Major attractions, such as the redesigned Powerhouse Museum, Darling Harbour’s Harbourside complex and the fish market at Blackwattle Bay, are being rebuilt nearby.
The time is ripe for a rejuvenated market to bring nightlife to this neglected corner of the CBD.
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