Shops prepare to close inside APEC fortress Sydney

A report in The Sydney Morning Heralds says that little by little, Sydney is being fortified for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.

More than 40 loudspeakers have been installed in the CBD, concrete fences will be used to surround the restricted buildings and residents are being encouraged to leave the city.

More than 5000 police and army personnel will be deployed for the event and for a summit that is supposed to be all about business, there may be precious little of it going on in Sydney when the full security blanket envelops the city next month.

The height of security activity and disruption will be between Friday, September 7, and Sunday, September 9, when the 21 world leaders converge on the city for the climax of APEC Leaders Week.

That Friday has been declared a public holiday, and the Sydney Chamber of Commerce has said it expects most small retailers and businesses to shut during the three-day weekend, although many bars and restaurants will remain open.

NSW police yesterday denied a report that it would erect a fence around the APEC area in Sydney, which is bounded by George, King and Macquarie streets, but fencing will be used around the restricted areas of the Sydney Opera House, Government House and the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre, said the head of the APEC 2007 NSW Police Security Command, Peter Lennon.   

He added, “There will be no fencing around the declared areas,” he said. “Right at this point we don’t want to describe where it is for operational and security reasons.”

He said there would be limited fencing in some areas where leaders were meeting or staying.

The Australian Defence Force yesterday issued a statement saying it would deploy about 1500 personnel, Black Hawk helicopters, F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, a special operations task group, and Royal Australian Navy ships.

The Herald revealed this week that a system of more than 40 loudspeakers had been put up around the city. The office of the Minister for Police, David Campbell, said it would be tested during the summit.

During the long weekend there will be no on-street parking in the declared areas and police have warned everyone planning to come into the city to take public transport or expect big delays.

The APEC Taskforce has revised the number of APEC-related visitors from 7000 to 5000.

Despite the disruption many retailers will stay open, with Westfield Sydney Central Plaza and the Queen Victoria Building shopping centres operating during the Friday public holiday, but management at The Galeries Victoria has yet to decide if it will open.

East Bank Cafe, which is deep within the APEC declared area in Circular Quay, will be open, but its manager, Abe Kazal, said he expected business to be down. “We got a memo from police that said that the area is going to have screening gates to monitor the crowd,” Mr Kazal said. “I think it’s going to be difficult for us to come to work, especially with the limits to public transport and buses and everything … But you’ve got to open; you can’t really close. You’ve got bills to pay and rent. It’s a risk that we have to take.”

Sydney Hilton and Westin Sydney will trade as normal, with all their bars and restaurants open.  Room bookings would also be taken, the hotels said, although they would already be heavily booked because of the summit.

The Australian Museum and the Maritime Museum will also stay open but the Art Gallery of NSW will close on the Friday.

Report by The Mole