The Property Council of Australia has welcomed the announcement by the NSW Government to detail the road map out of COVID once we reach 80 percent double dose vaccination.
Property Council NSW Executive Director Luke Achterstraat said the further freedoms acquired would be a vital reboot for the economy.
“It’s great to see normality re-emerging as we head into summer after quite a grim winter, with the return of construction site capacity to 100 percent today. The next step is to revitalise our CBD,” Mr Achterstraat said.
“Our CBDs cannot be reactivated until workers are going back to offices to breathe life into our cities.”
Mr Achterstraat welcomed the further easing of restrictions on offices and businesses, including no masks in offices and employers’ discretion on working from home policies, as of December 1.
“With Sydney’s most recent office occupancy data detailing just four percent of workers are in our offices in August, we need a concerted effort from business, people and government to come together to ensure our public spaces and central districts can bounce back.”
Mr Achterstraat said the reduced restrictions will bring back confidence in our CBDs.
“Investment in attracting people back to the city and to public spaces is critical to ensuring Sydney and our other CBDs, the economic powerhouses of the state, are able to once again thrive so we welcome any decision that demonstrates this,” he said.
“Following the announcements of the return of international students and open international borders before the new year, today’s plan will continue to have positive impacts on our markets as confidence returns.”
Mr Achterstraat highlighted the important role vaccination has played in this safe reopening and recognised the importance in a reopening that is safe and follows the health advice to ensure we reopen safely and can stay open once and for all.
“Businesses and industry implore the need for a smooth and permanent reopening to ensure confidence and jobs, and we welcome the Premier’s confidence that lockdowns of this nature will not be required in future,” he said.
