2. The Redfern-Waterloo Area

This section provides an overview of the social, economic and environmental context, and characteristics of the Redfern-Waterloo area. It recognises its important assets, highlights issues to be addressed and the need for revitalisation.

The opportunities identified in this section are summarised below and are addressed in the strategies outlined in Section 3.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Ensure that the redevelopment and revitalisation of Redfern-Waterloo contributes towards the achievement of metropolitan targets for jobs and improves opportunities for people to live and work within acceptable commuting distances.

• Support housing provision, housing choice and implement an affordable housing program.

• Reinforce the proximity of Redfern-Waterloo to the Sydney CBD and Airport economic corridor and support links to key educational and health facilities.

• Maximise the potential of the Redfern Railway Station and anchor Redfern as a major destination for commuters and residents.

• Encourage Aboriginal enterprise and cultural development, reinforce Redfern as a meeting place for Aboriginal people and support employment opportunities and initiatives for local residents as outlined in the Employment and Enterprise Plan.

• Facilitate improved linkages between the Redfern Railway Station, local employment hubs, Redfern and Regent Streets, and the University of Sydney.

• Work with relevant Government agencies to address regional and local traffic issues, facilitate improved connectivity between east and west Redfern, ensure traffic generated by new development is managed and improve bus access.

• Facilitate the upgrade of Redfern Railway Station, the creation of a significant civic space adjacent to the Railway Station, public domain improvements along linkages and increased open space provision through redevelopment on RWA strategic sites.

• Facilitate the establishment of community and cultural facilities for all residents, improve safety and amenity and support the initiatives outlined in the Human Services Plan.

• Ensure high quality urban design and architecture and protect heritage items where possible.

2.1 Strategic Location

Redfern-Waterloo is strategically located to the south of the Sydney Central Business District (CBD), 3 kilometres from the Sydney Town Hall. To the south-west of Redfern-Waterloo are Sydney’s economic gateways, Port Botany and Sydney Airport. Under the NSW Government’s Metropolitan Strategy (City of Cities, A Plan for Sydney’s Future) released in 2005, the Redfern-Waterloo area is designated as part of the Sydney CBD to Sydney Airport economic corridor and the broader global economic corridor from North Sydney to the Airport. This corridor contains activities critical to the Sydney metropolitan economy. Diagram 2.1 [144 KB] illustrates the important strategic position of the Redfern-Waterloo area.

The area’s close proximity to the Sydney CBD provides an excellent opportunity for businesses and residents to locate close to Sydney’s national and international businesses, key health, education, cultural and entertainment facilities as shown on Diagram 2.2 [147 KB]. It is important that future development reinforces the area’s proximity to the Sydney CBD and provides stronger physical links to these facilities and activities.

Redfern-Waterloo is highly accessible and in close proximity to significant:

• tertiary educational campuses of the University of Sydney, University of Technology, University of NSW, and Sydney Institute of Technology

• health facilities such as Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital

• regional and local open space – Victoria Park, Moore Park, Centennial Park, Prince Alfred Park

• community facilities and services

• transport infrastructure – rail and bus networks, major road networks including the orbital motorway and regional road networks linking to the Sydney CBD, Sydney Airport and Port Botany (such as, Botany Road, Regent Street, Cleveland Street and O’Riordan Street)

• residential and commercial developments proposed at Green Square and the Carlton United Brewery (CUB) site.

2.2 Metropolitan Strategy PlanningObjectives

In December 2005 the NSW Government released the City of Cities – A Plan for Sydney’s Future, the 25 year Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney. The Metropolitan Strategy predicts Sydney’s population to grow from the current population of 4.2 million to 5.3 million by 2031 (an additional 1.1 million people in 25 years). The NSW Government predicts that this will require 640,000 new homes, 500,000 additional jobs, 6.8 million square metres of additional commercial space and 3.7 million square metres of additional retail space. A key approach to the Metropolitan Strategy is continued residential and employment growth within existing key centres and economic corridors.

The Metropolitan Strategy identifies Redfern-Waterloo as an area which can contribute to achieving the employment and housing goals of the strategy. Due to the area’s strategic location and public transport provision, it plays a major role in supporting Sydney’s Economic Corridor (the corridor refers to the concentration of employment and gateway infrastructure from Macquarie Park through to Chatswood, St Leonards, North Sydney and the Sydney CBD to the Airport and Port Botany) by contributing to employment and residential growth.

The Metropolitan Strategy sets planning targets for the City of Sydney of 55,000 new dwellings and 58,000 new jobs by 2031. The development of the RWA strategic sites can contribute to providing land for commercial, retail and residential purposes to assist in meeting these Sydney metropolitan planning targets. It will also provide for a greater residential and employment community which can take advantage of existing public transport; the Sydney CBD, Airport and Port; recreational and cultural facilities; and nearby significant health and educational facilities.

The Redfern-Waterloo area has a population of nearly 20,000, less than half the population in the early 1950’s. This is primarily attributed to smaller households. Like many other inner city suburbs, Redfern-Waterloo also has experienced a decline in its traditional industrial and warehousing base.

The decline in population and the traditional industrial base has impacted on the area’s economic sustainability. Redfern-Waterloo, along with many suburbs along the Sydney CBD to Airport corridor, is undergoing a transformation towards a more commercial and service oriented business/employment base. The RWA strategic sites can contribute positively by injecting more employment into the area.

Redfern-Waterloo’s uniquely accessible location provides a great opportunity to support sustainability within Sydney’s south east, by providing jobs to a wide working catchment. Job growth in Redfern-Waterloo will enhance opportunities for people to live and work within acceptable commuting distance, positively contributing to family life and the reduction of greenhouse emissions.

2.3 History and Heritage

Redfern-Waterloo has a rich built history which is evidenced by the late nineteenth century terrace housing, industrial buildings and warehouses which still characterise the area today. Redfern has a strong industrial history dating back to the mid 1800’s. It attracted a wide range of industries, such as, tanneries, brickworks, wool washing and market gardens. Much housing was constructed to house the workers of these industries.

The Eveleigh Railway Workshops, built in the 1870’s, provided a unique influence to the development of the surrounding area. The Workshops attracted many workers to the area and at the height of operations employed over 3,000 skilled workers. The late nineteenth century terrace housing was largely constructed to provide housing for those employed at the Workshops. The Workshops closed in the late 1980’s with some railway operations and maintenance facilities still existing on the southern side of the railway line. Today the Australian Technology Park (ATP) has brought back employment and people to the southern part of Eveleigh with adaptive reuse of the Locomotive Workshops and new developments.

The Eveleigh Railway Workshops includes a number of specific items which are currently listed on the State Heritage Register.

The adaptive reuse of significant heritage buildings such as the Locomotive Workshops at the ATP and the proposed Contemporary Performing Arts Centre at the Carriage Workshops in North Eveleigh, contribute to the unique character and setting of the railway yards, reinforces the industrial history of the area and preserves the heritage significance of the railway yards. The Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Building which fronts Wilson Street is another fine example of a heritage building which lends itself to adaptive reuse.

The history of the area is also reflected in the Local Court House on Redfern Street, some buildings on the Redfern Public School site and a portion of the Rachel Forster Hospital.

Further work will be undertaken to determine the heritage integrity of individual heritage items and appropriate measures to protect their relative importance with each development proposal.

Due to the poor condition of the housing within Redfern-Waterloo in the mid 1900’s, the County of Cumberland Plan (1948-1951) provided for the demolition of the housing to be replaced with high rise apartment blocks in a landscaped setting. The Housing Commission at the time played a key role in developing Redfern-Waterloo as evidenced by the public housing that remains today. The Housing Commission towers remain a strong built feature in the landscape and continue to reflect the very high proportion of public housing tenancies. The NSW Government has given its commitment to ensure that there will be no reduction to the amount of public housing tenancies in the area, current residents will not be disadvantaged and all public tenancies are secure.

The Aboriginal community has had continuous occupation of the Redfern-Waterloo area. Since the 1940’s Redfern and the area known as the Block (bound by Eveleigh, Vine, Louis and Caroline Streets) has become an important base for the Aboriginal people in Sydney. The Block is an area of urban land owned by Aboriginal people, when it was purchased (through a grant) for Aboriginal housing in 1973. The struggle to gain ownership of the Block was part of the movement by Aboriginal people during the 1970’s towards self-determination. Many of original houses on the Block have been demolished and many of these are remaining derelict.

The much needed redevelopment of the Block must recognise its social and cultural importance for Aboriginal people. In general, Redfern has a special status for Aboriginal people, with organisations such as the first Aboriginal Medical Service having started in the area.

2.4 Community

The Redfern–Waterloo area is the traditional home of the Gadigal Clan of the Eora Nation. Redfern is a centre of major significance to Aboriginal people who have a strong association with the area and contribute to its strong sense of identity. The Block is particularly important as a meeting place for local Aboriginal people, as well as, visitors from outside the area.

Redfern has a modern tradition of being a beacon for Aboriginal people from around Australia – it provides an opportunity to reunite with family and friends from their hometowns or to simply be with ‘their mob’. Originally there has been a ‘sense of place’ here for the Aboriginal community and a sense of cultural and spiritual identity in an otherwise alienating environment. (Aboriginal Housing Company; 2001)

Redfern-Waterloo is also characterised by strong cultural and ethnic diversity. The area has a rich multicultural community with residents from Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Greek, Spanish, Vietnamese and various backgrounds other than English. There is a strong sense of community spirit within the area. From interviews with the local community (Making Connections: Better Services, Stronger Community, 2004) it was expressed that people value the diversity of the area and that there is a high level of respect despite some negative external perceptions. Appendix One provides a community profile.

Compared to the Sydney region, the Redfern–Waterloo area experiences higher levels of economic and social disadvantage. This is attributed to lower incomes, education, home ownership and labour force participation, high levels of unemployment and public housing occupancy.

Within the Aboriginal community the social and economic disadvantage is more significant with people more likely to be unemployed, have lower incomes and fewer assets, poorer education, literacy and health and lower life expectancy.

The social and economic disadvantage has contributed to complex social issues and a negative perception of the Redfern-Waterloo area. Crime levels, including a re-offending population, drug and alcohol dependence and poor health, particularly mental health, and family breakdown and stress are issues within Redfern-Waterloo.

Empowerment through access to jobs, education and training are an important key to addressing the fundamental problems associated with social disadvantage. The Employment and Enterprise Plan prepared by the RWA outlines opportunities for job creation for the local community. The draft Built Environment Plan provides the planning mechanism for much of the job creation identified in the Employment and Enterprise Plan.

The Human Services Plan compliments these initiatives by ensuring a more efficient and appropriate delivery of human services to those in need in the community. In support of the Human Services Plan, this draft Plan seeks to facilitate the provision of community and cultural facilities through land use and planning controls which encourage their establishment.

As a result of gentrification and private ownership in parts of Redfern-Waterloo over the past decade, the relative proportion of lower to medium income households has decreased and is comparative to the wider Sydney region. While gentrification has facilitated increased growth and prosperity it has also reduced the affordability of housing within Redfern-Waterloo, which has led to the displacement of lower income earners. This in turn has contributed to increasing social polarisation as the gap between high and low income groups widens. Declining housing affordability is an issue that needs to be addressed. This objective is reinforced by the Redfern-Waterloo Act which makes provision for the RWA to collect funds to provide for affordable housing in the area.

The Redfern Waterloo Authority seeks to ensure the creation of a more sustainable future for the community in the Redfern Waterloo Area.

2.5 Built Environment and Public Domain

The public domain within Redfern-Waterloo varies considerably from the strong landscape character of the residential streets, to the streets in the light industrial areas south of Cleveland Street which lack vegetation.

The area primarily is characterised by simple linear urban streets with footpaths on both sides of the street and some tree planting.

Crime and personal safety has been identified by the community as the most significant issue that needs to be addressed in the area. This especially relates to the use and enjoyment of public areas frequently compromised by crime and intimidating behaviour. The NSW Government Submission for the Inquiry into Redfern and Waterloo 2004 highlights the strong community concern about crime and safety. This concerns were also expressed by the public during consultation for the RED Strategy. Improvements to the public domain and increased surveillance are important ways in which public safety and perception can be improved and are an important element of this draft Plan.

The community has also indicated that the streetscape and surrounds require improvements. Dark streets and shuttered shop fronts during the day and night create an impression that the area is unsafe and unwelcoming. This is especially the case in the Redfern town centre, which includes Redfern and Regents Streets which are underperforming as the area’s retail hub. Improvements in the public domain to surrounding town centres such as King Street, Newtown, Erskineville Road, Erskineville and Oxford Street, Paddington have had a significant impact on encouraging people to use these areas, and boosted local business activity significantly.

There are no major supermarkets servicing the local catchment and residents often travel to Surry Hills, East Gardens, Marrickville or Broadway for their weekly shopping.

Along Regent Street and its surrounds there has recently been new mixed use development characterised by commercial and retail on the ground floor and residential above. This has provided new premises for businesses and increased activity along the street.

The City of Sydney council has announced a $20 million streetscape improvement program to commence in 2006. These works include improvements to the paths, under grounding of power lines, new street furniture, trees and lighting on Redfern Street, improvements to the Cope Street Reserve, and limited upgrade of Regent Street. This public investment is a positive start to improving the access and amenity of the area, however, the RWA has submitted to the City of Sydney that much more needs to be done to revitalise Regent Street.

The urban design analysis of Redfern-Waterloo has reinforced the problems related to the limited connectivity to and within the area. Despite the extensive movement network, transport options and grid street system, connectivity for pedestrians and residents to the Redfern Railway Station, town centre and between North and South Eveleigh is restricted. This is primarily due to the rail corridor, rail yards and major roads carrying through traffic.

The result is a disconnected suburban structure and development sites enclosed by the transportation network. This has lead to the separation of Redfern and Regent Streets from the western residents and worker catchments, which has discouraged pedestrian movement through to the Redfern town centre.

The lack of connectivity also contributes to poor passive surveillance of the public spaces.

The access to the north eastern part of the area around Eveleigh Street is heavily compromised due to the lack of visual connection and passive surveillance, which contributes to antisocial behaviour in open space areas.

The area around Redfern Railway Station is disjointed and uninviting, with few developments and activities addressing the Station entrance on Gibbons Street, and inadequate connections from ATP, the Redfern town centre and North Eveleigh.

The ATP provides a positive built environment incorporating adaptive reuse of buildings, contemporary design buildings and a good public domain.

However, pedestrians access to Redfern Railway Station and the Redfern town centre need to be improved.

The public domain around other RWA strategic sites, such as North Eveleigh tends to be quite poor due to the minimal activity on the site and lack of public and private investment.

2.6 Transport and Access

Public Transport

The Redfern Railway Station is one of the most significant assets of Redfern-Waterloo. Railway stations and other transport nodes play an important role in the revitalisation of a local area by providing transport for workers and residents. Redfern Railway Station is the eighth busiest railway station in the metropolitan CityRail network in terms of passenger movements (occurring on a typical weekday) with approximately over 31,000 movements (entries and exits). In addition, considerable passenger interchanges occur between platforms (approximately 18,000 rail to rail interchange movements within the station on a weekday). More CityRail suburban and inter urban trains stop at Redfern Railway Station than any other station, with the exception of Central, providing it with superior access to and within metropolitan Sydney. Redfern Railway Station provides an exceptional opportunity as a destination for commuters.

Information from RailCorp indicates that over 55 percent of commuters walk to the station and approximately 37 percent travel to the station by bus. Only about five percent of rail commuters arrive at the station by car. There is significant movement of people to the University of Sydney and over 1,300 people interchange during peak period from rail to bus to access the employment areas of Mascot, Botany and Alexandria. This data clearly indicates that access and connectivity to bus stops, key adjoining destinations, such as the University of Sydney, and future activity nodes at Redfern town centre (Redfern Street), ATP and North Eveleigh must be well considered to ensure ease of access and safety for workers, residents and visitors.

Redfern Railway Station does not currently provide access for people with disability, in line with the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport. The stairway access to the platforms is inequitable for the elderly, young children and less mobile people.

Any proposed redevelopment of the RWA strategic sites must be matched with improvements to Redfern Railway Station and associated connections to key destinations in Redfern-Waterloo. This is reinforced in the Metropolitan Strategy where upgrading of the station is seen as a key to providing better services for future development.

The Redfern Railway Station upgrade needs to occur to provide:

• disabled access and enhanced safety

• a general increase in rail patronage growth

• increased capacity to service the new residential, commercial and retail development proposed on the RWA strategic sites, especially North Eveleigh, ATP, and Gibbons and Regent Streets

• a physically improved Railway Station which improves the entry and connections to the Redfern-Waterloo area

• a more efficient rail to rail interchange facility.

Existing buses services through and to Redfern offer a high level of regional connectivity. However, the frequency of services and the expansion of existing routes need to be closely examined. Pedestrian connections to key bus stops, especially on Regent and Lawson Streets also need to be enhanced.

Roads

The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001 Census shows that the existing population of Redfern-Waterloo has almost half the car ownership of the Sydney metropolitan region and uses public transport at double the rate of those in the Sydney metropolitan region. This is partially due to the socio-economic profile of the existing population.

The Redfern-Waterloo area funnels a great deal of regional traffic and people to other destinations in Sydney, instead of being a key destination. Currently, large volumes of regional traffic along Gibbons and Regent Streets physically dissect the Redfern Railway Station from the Redfern town centre. This limits physical connections, restricts pedestrian movement and reduces pedestrian safety.

The Department of Planning has advised that over the next 10 years traffic in the Sydney CBD to Airport corridor is anticipated to increase by 20,000 road trips in the morning peak. The continuing strong growth in the movement of vehicles and trucks through the Airport and Port Botany will increase demands on the regional transport network. Without any action to address the increasing traffic from the Airport and Port Botany, regional traffic will continue to increase through Redfern-Waterloo impacting on the amenity and safety of pedestrians. As a result, this will continue to negatively impact on the already poor business environment along Regent and Gibbons Streets.

The RWA in partnership with the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) is currently examining options to manage regional traffic through Redfern-Waterloo. The RWA’s vision is to reinstate two way traffic operations on Regent and Gibbons Streets which will assist in managing traffic along these streets and create a safer main street and pedestrian environment. The solution may require a more strategic response which takes into consideration broader metropolitan and regional traffic issues and may not be imminent.

Cycling

There are many existing on road bicycle routes through or adjoining the RWA strategic sites.

Currently, there are on road bicycle routes along Redfern Street, Lawson Street connecting to Little Eveleigh Street and Wilson Street which extends towards Erskineville, Newtown, Sydney University and City Road. There are also on road bicycle routes along Henderson Road and Railway Parade. The only off road bicycle route in the locality is through the ATP.

As part of the City of Sydney’s proposed upgrade of Redfern Street, Council is considering cycle and traffic lanes and 10 kilometres per hour speed limits along Wells Street and Turner Street to improve the safety for cyclists and to direct them off the busier and more dangerous traffic routes (such as Redfern Street).

Further work will be undertaken to determine linkages to and through RWA strategic sites for cyclists.

2.7 Land Use and Built Form

As is typical of many inner city areas of Sydney, the built form is a mixture of terrace housing, small single storey cottages, and two to three storey commercial and retail buildings. Interspersed within this, especially along the main traffic routes (such as, Cleveland Street and Regent Street) and close to the railway line are larger four to six storey warehouses and industrial buildings. It is this mix of massing and different architectural form that is part of the character of these inner city locations.

Redfern-Waterloo is generally fine grained within residential areas with narrow frontages (about five to six metres) and deep lots (about thirty metres). Larger lots occur where warehousing and railway uses were located. Overall the street pattern provides simple rectilinear street blocks. Many are divided by narrow laneways which provide rear access to dwellings and other uses.

The Redfern-Waterloo area has also been subject to more recent twentieth century development. Some of this development has introduced a high rise built form in locations of high visibility. These built forms include the existing TNT towers on Lawson and Regent Streets and the Department of Housing apartment towers in south eastern and eastern Redfern and Waterloo. The TNT towers coincide with the ridge line which further exaggerates the height of the buildings. The Department of Housing towers are located towards the lower slopes of the ridge which reduces the visual impact of the buildings.

The Redfern town centre at Redfern Street has a mixture of built form. Its predominant heights are two to four storeys. The dominant height of the TNT towers has created a visual marker for the Redfern town centre (Redfern Railway Station and Redfern Street), however, this area lacks active uses and is visually unappealing. With appropriate urban design treatment and high quality public domain, the redevelopment of the TNT towers and the land adjoining the Redfern Railway Station can act as a positive gateway to the Redfern town centre and transport facilities.

To the west of the Redfern-Waterloo area the built form includes significant groupings of two storey terraces. However, along streets such as Abercrombie Street and Lawson Street there are concentrations of older warehouses and buildings associated with the University of Sydney that have greater height. Generally the scale is three to five storeys which continue back along Lawson Street to the Redfern Railway Station.

The Eveleigh railway lands contrast to the general built form of the area with large structures covering extensive footprints.

The entire area is characterised by development very close to the street edge, providing a strong sense of enclosure along the street.

Development on the RWA strategic sites needs to reflect the positive aspects of the existing character and diversity of the area.

2.8 Natural Features

Topography

The majority of the Redfern-Waterloo area is located either along the ridge line or on north, west and south facing slopes. Redfern Street and the TNT towers are located along a ridge line. There is also a ridge line running slightly east of Elizabeth Street.

Views

The Redfern-Waterloo area offers magnificent views looking north towards the Sydney CBD. The Sydney CBD is visible from most of the north-south streets crossing Redfern Street and along Lawson Street where it intersects Eveleigh Street.

To the south are district views of the Department of Housing high rise apartments and towards Sydney Airport and Botany Bay. Views to the east and west are generally local in nature.

The Redfern Street ridge line is visible from the southern parts of the Sydney CBD and also from high rise development on the southern edge of the city. The existing TNT towers and the Department of Housing high rise apartments are prominent features which are viewed when travelling southward through the area.

From the south, the Redfern-Waterloo area is less visible as the slope is fairly gradual, although the high rise apartment grouping is highly visible.

Public Domain and Open Space

Public open spaces in the area are dominated by regional parks such as Moore Park and more district parks such as Redfern Park, Victoria Park and Prince Alfred. There are also a number of local parks scattered throughout some of the residential areas, such as Hollis Park, Alexandria Park, Yellowmudee Park, Hugo Street Reserve and Pemulwuy Park. The City of Sydney is currently planning for the upgrade of a number of local parks in the Eveleigh Street and east Redfern area to make the parks more attractive, improve their function, and improve safety and visibility.

The lack of a central meeting places within the town centre and inadequate public domain accentuates the apparent lack of open space within Redfern-Waterloo. Redevelopment offers the opportunity to formalise a civic heart adjacent to the Redfern Railway Station which will provide open space. Improvements and landscaping to linkages will also enhance the public open space.

New development on RWA strategic sites will be required to provide adequate open space or make a contribution to open space provision. A Public Domain Improvement Plan will be prepared by the RWA to inform how improved open space provision in Redfern-Waterloo will be achieved.

2.9 Utility Services

The proposed increases in residential population and businesses will have an impact on capacity of utility services. This includes the provision of water, sewerage, stormwater, gas, electricity and telecommunications.

During exhibition of the draft Plan utility service providers will be consulted to provide preliminary information on the capacity and proposed delivery solutions to cater for the new development.