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State Premier Kristina Keneally |
Sydney Fish Market, one of the largest in the southern Hemisphere, is to receive a £25-million facelift to secure its future under a new partnership between the State Government and Sydney Fish Market company.
The market is not just a major seafood trading centre, but it is also visited by millions of fish hungry Australian members of the public. Every Christmas thousands of people flock to the market to buy up all the seafood they can get for the festive holiday. Because Sydney basks in near tropical temperatures in December, fish such as salmon, prawns and snapper has largely replaced the traditional turkey fare.
The state government has said it will donate around £12-million towards the redevelopment, which will include funding for a new harbour side foreshore park. A similar sum will be provided by the fish market itself.
There is nothing like Sydney Fish Market in Britain or even Europe which last year attracted 3.5 million visitors selling over traded 13,600 tonnes of seafood and generating more than 152 million Australian dollars ( about £95-million sterling) in retail sales. The revamp is expected to increase sales by over 30 per cent and create an extra 200 jobs.
State Premier Kristina Keneally said." “The Fish Market has been an icon since the mid 1960s, and has become synonymous with Christmas and Easter in Sydney,” Minister for State Development, Ian Macdonald, added that the redevelopment will improve the Fish Market’s appearance as well as its performance and safety.
“This partnership will bring this cultural icon up to world class standards,” he added. The renovation work should be completed by 2012.
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