Lord Mayor Letter to Residents about North Eveleigh

I am gravely concerned about current proposals to develop the historic Eveleigh Carriage Workshops- described by the Smithsonian Institute as one of the rarest and most intact industrial precincts in the world.

Under the Redfern Waterloo Authority proposals - for which the Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, is the sole consent authority - development on this iconic site will include:

• a range of buildings between four and 16 storeys (equivalent to the TNT Towers)
• parking for almost 2000 cars
• construction of over 1,200 dwellings for Z400 new residents
• unsympathetic re-use of heritage buildings, including an apartment building on top of the historic Paintshop which would require demolition of most of the building's most visible façade
• a range of new buildings over the fan-of-tracks to the east of the Paintshop

We are also concerned that traffic modelling in the plan doesn't appear to accurately reflect the existing situation on surrounding roads. Nor does it take into account the long-standing proposals to close Shepherd and Ivy Streets north of Abercrombie and Butlin Avenue within the University.

The development will not meet the requirements for sustainability, including cogeneration, which should be incorporated to meet sustainability targets for Sydney.

We are especially concerned that the public spaces provided in the concept plan are poor, consisting of a series of small, narrow and fragmented spaces, often reading as forecourts to buildings rather than genuine and usable public space.

It is also poorly integrated with surrounding residential areas.

But this development will proceed unless the Authority can be presented with a viable alternative.

The University of Sydney does have a more sympathetic plan for the site, which it would like to present to residents.

The City has called a meeting for this Saturday, July 26, at the CarriageWorks, Eveleigh, at 2pm, so that residents can listen to an alternative plan for this precious historic site.

I hope you will be there.

Yours sincerely

Clover Moore MP
Lord Mayor of Sydney