Equitable Access to Redfern Station - Mayoral Minute 12 March 2012

ITEM 3.1. EQUITABLE ACCESS TO REDFERN STATION - MINUTE BY THE LORD MAYOR

To Council:

Redfern Station is a major hub of the CityRail network, with all rail lines excepting the airport line running through it, making it one of the busiest stations on the network for changing trains.

In response to my 2010 Question on Notice about Redfern Station, the former Government revealed that the station is the seventh busiest on the CityRail network, with almost 42,000 trips to and from the station each weekday.

Redfern Station services Sydney University, the National Centre of Indigenous Access, Australian Technology Park, CarriageWorks, the Redfern Community Centre and several Redfern based community services, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services.

Despite the Station’s significance, there are no lifts to its platforms, making access difficult, if not impossible, for people with disabilities, older people, parents with young children, pregnant women and people who are less mobile due to illness or injury. People with luggage or carrying large items also find it a challenge.

The community has been promised an upgrade of Redfern Station for over 20 years. In 2003, a community forum was told that Redfern Station would not be upgraded until 2011 without Government intervention.

Various Government Ministers have responded to my questions in Parliament acknowledging that plans are being developed for the upgrade of Redfern Station, but have failed to provide a timeline or start date.

I am awaiting an answer from the Minister for Transport to the question I asked on notice about the Redfern Station upgrade on 15 February 2012. I am concerned, however, that the Minister’s response to a question asked in the Legislative Council in November 2011 suggests that Redfern Station is not on the Government’s Easy Access Program list.

Given the lack of commitment to providing equitable access, the community has launched Lift Redfern, a campaign to get lifts installed at Redfern Station as a priority. It is supported by a wide range of resident, business, arts, political and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, groups, community services, and local elected representatives.

One object of the campaign is to initiate a Parliamentary debate on the appalling lack of access at Redfern Station by getting a petition with over 10,000 signatures tabled in Parliament.

Lift Redfern plans to launch the petition on Monday 19 March 2012, with teams of volunteers collecting signatures at Redfern Station and nearby access points and other stations on the CityRail network. Volunteers will continue to gather signatures over the next month.

I welcome and support this campaign, and I ask that Council also endorse it and give it its full support.

RECOMMENDATION
It is resolved that Council:
(A) endorse the Lift Redfern community campaign;
(B) request the Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Lord Mayor and interested Councillors, to take action to support the Lift Redfern community campaign; and
(C) encourage the soon to be established Central Sydney Traffic and Transport Committee to resolve this issue as one of its first tasks.

COUNCILLOR CLOVER MOORE MP
Lord Mayor