A statement from the office of Planning Minister Rob Stokes said the Barangaroo Delivery Authority sought to remove the tower "in order to achieve a naturalistic form and character for the reserve that is consistent with the site's concept plan". Due to be knocked down: The Sydney Harbour Control Tower. Credit:David Porter "The proposal was exhibited last year and submissions were carefully considered," the statement said. The tower would be replaced with a "interpretive historical display" focusing on maritime history and Millers Point, it said. Variously called a "concrete mushroom", "the Pill", a "hypodermic in God's bum" or just an eyesore, the tower has been an 87-metre high landmark at Barangaroo since 1974, when it was installed to control berths in the harbour.

It was closed in 2011 when vessel control services were moved to Port Botany. Capturing history: artist Jane Bennett paints the scene in March. Credit:Steven Siewert But the National Trust argued the tower symbolised more than 200 years of shipping trade in Sydney and should be conserved. The NSW Heritage Council recommended that it be listed on the state heritage register, affording it the highest level of protection. This push was recently rejected by Heritage Minister Mark Speakman. The council's advocacy set it on a collision course with the former prime minister, who is such a champion of the headland park that in April its lead landscape architect referred to him as the site's "client".

In December, Mr Keating said a government report outlining other potential uses for the tower, commissioned on behalf of the heritage council, was a "complete abuse of process" and the "sort of exercises that truly give heritage a bad name". This had proposed re-use options including an adventure or viewing tower, plus a restaurant with sweeping views over the harbour. "[The tower] does not have a shred of heritage about it," Mr Keating said at the time. The National Trust's Graham Quint said on Thursday the detractors had "won out again and Sydney is the worse for it, for losing its industrial heritage". "Unfortunately, because the building is an example of industrial heritage, a lot of people just don't like the look of it," Mr Quint said, nominating Garden Island's Hammerhead Crane as another case.

"We'll have no evidence of Sydney ever being an industrial port, and it's very sad that we just can't keep that sort of history." The Department of Planning and Environment had recommended a number of conditions to address impacts resulting from the demolition, Mr Stokes' office said. The Barangaroo Delivery Authority would now begin preparing the tender documents for the demolition, a spokeswoman for the agency said. "The tower will be carefully deconstructed to minimise the impact on public use and the local community," she said.