The City of Sydney welcomed local community members into the new Alexandra Canal depot over the weekend for a behind the scenes tour of the facilities that will service the needs of the city’s southern suburbs.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore launched the open day at the Alexandra Canal depot, which is home to more than 155 City staff and 70 vehicles.
The new depot will ensure that essential services like cleansing and waste, civil infrastructure, maintenance and construction will be delivered more efficiently.
The modern facility covers 22,430 square metres in the Green Square precinct and replaces three older depots which have since been decommissioned in Alexandria, Redfern and Zetland.
The depot was built with a strong sustainability focus and features the first Tesla Powerpack battery installed and operational in Sydney, powered by more than 1,600 solar panels on the depot’s roofs.
The battery can store up to 500 kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to meet the daily needs of around 50 homes and equivalent to the storage capacity of 50,000 mobile phone batteries.
The building design includes natural ventilation and lighting, roof water collection and re-use, energy and water efficient equipment and 10,620 tonnes of eco-concrete to reduce emissions during the construction process.
“It was wonderful to welcome so many locals and families from across Sydney to the depot this weekend,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“I especially love how proud of the new facilities our staff are, with the new depot providing a state-of-the-art working environment for the people who keep our city running smoothly.
“Although our previous depots served us well for many years, the new Alexandra Canal depot is a giant step forward for our organisation and will ensure we provide high-quality services for many decades to come.
“The new depot is an excellent example of how modern industrial facilities should be designed – energy efficient, water efficient and powered by renewable energy.”
Director of City Services, David Riordan, said the new depot would see essential services like cleansing and waste, civil infrastructure, maintenance and construction delivered more efficiently.
“City services staff maintain 333km of roads, 533km of footpaths, 425 parks and playgrounds and five aquatic centres and much more,” Mr Riordan said.
“Our new depot ensures we are a safe, sustainable, efficient and resilient organisation, servicing more than 100,000 customer service requests every year.”
Visitors to the depot open day were treated to free coffee, gelato, children’s activities and a visit from Bob the Builder.
For media inquiries or images, contact Alex Cauchi. Phone mobile 0467 803 815 or email acauchi@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore, please contact Jack Begbie. Phone 0481 759 580 or email jbegbie@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au