Former prime minister Paul Keating and the NSW premier have vowed Sydney's Barangaroo precinct won't be brutalised, after heritage experts raised the alarm about an obtrusive design for the harbour's final precinct.
"It's incredibly important that governments get it right," Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Thursday from a wharf at Barangaroo.
"We have a once in a lifetime opportunity right now to get this right."
A renewed design comes after an initial proposal to modify the central Barangaroo Precinct was met with strong criticism, including from the National Heritage Trust.
The initial proposal included a 73-metre tower which would have blocked views of the heritage listed Observatory Hill in The Rocks, and did not take into account the Indigenous cultural value of the sightlines.
The new development will include restrictions on the design's floor space, limit the amount any buildings can shadow the surrounding area, or block sightlines across the city.
"This is about setting a vision for our great city," Mr Perrottet said.
"It's not about corporate dollars. It's about making sure in the future, the generations to come will look back and say this is one of the most wonderful areas anywhere in the world."
Mr Keating compared the precinct to the "wonderful tall buildings that sit at the end of New York".
He praised the premier for his work on the design reform, saying he had a "civic conscience".
Mr Keating also rejected recent commentary from the NSW Institute of Architects that criticised a separate section of the Barangaroo development, the One Barangaroo skyscraper, labelling the group "fruitcakes".
Recent surveys had proven the precinct was popular with western Sydney families.
"People put the blanket out, they bring a few sandwiches," Mr Keating said.
"As the premier said, we haven't reserved this for rich people."
Director of the NSW Conservation National Trust David Burdon said the initial design had failed to engage sensitively with its surrounds, including Observatory Hill, which has been significant since colonial times, and for millennia before that.
"The National Trust welcomes the fact that the (Planning) Minister (Anthony Roberts) has listened to the significant community concern on this important issue," Mr Burdon told AAP.
"By rejecting the inappropriate initial proposal, there is now a real opportunity to ensure Sydney gets this last piece of the puzzle right."
