Draft Waterloo South People and Place Plan | For feedback until 31 May 2024
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Clarification by CoS on Future of Community Safety Plans in Redfern Waterloo
The RWCSP Taskforce was established to write the Redfern-Waterloo Community Safety Plan (RWCSP).
The RWSCP (the Plan) operated between 2004 and 2007.
The Taskforce was initiated by the Department of Premier and Cabinet in 2003.
The Police and Council were the lead agencies in developing the plan.
The Taskforce was set up under the former South Sydney Council. Since that time, our LGA has doubled in size and incorporated complex communities with their own unique safety issue.
Since the time of the Plan, the City has delivered more programming to the Redfern and Waterloo community than just about any part of the LGA.
As demonstrated by the lengthy list below, we continue to deliver many elements from the plan, and have introduced lots of new programming that the plan didn't capture.
Since that time we have also adopted a whole-of-city plan - the Safe City Strategy 2007 - 2012, which provides direction to our programming for all suburbs.
Most members of the RWCSP Taskforce are now members of the Redfern Police Local Area Command Community Safety Precinct Committee (CSPC) (including Mr Turnbull).
We believe that this is an appropriate forum in which to address community safety concerns.
No other suburbs in our LGA have a council initiated safety taskforce, as we use existing forums (such as the CSPC) to address safety issues.
City staff are already engaged in a series of other safety related forums in the area including those relating to:
- Waterloo shops
- Waterloo Green
- Redfern Community Drug Action Team
- Redfern Neighbourhood Advisory Board
- Waterloo Neighbourhood Advisory Board
As you are aware, the Lord Mayor also runs Public Housing Forums in this area where safety is a key issue, which Safe City staff coordinate and also regularly attend.
City staff will consider the recommendation below, to bring together Taskforce members to celebrate the success of the plan and to provided feedback on what we are currently doing.
Needless to say, we will continue to work with the Redfern and Waterloo community, but our resources are finite and we can't offer the intensity of support to every community at every time.
Suzie Matthews Manager, Social Policy and Community Support
Council Officer's Response RWCSP Continuing
The following response was supplied by Council Officers to an email by Councillor Irene Doutney to the Council CEO asking if the Redfern Waterloo Community safety plan would continue.
The Safety plan was a 3 year plan, 2004-2007 and the Safety Taskforce has now been subsumed by the new Redfern Police Community Precinct Committee - which involves most of the former taskforce membership.
The following are some of the initiatives which Safe City are continuing as part of the strategies outlined in the Redfern-Waterloo Community Safety Plan:
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The Safety Plan gave rise to the Public Housing Liaison Officer position who is currently working with tenants groups and providers in developing a Community Safety Safety Strategy for public housing tenants in the Redfern-Waterloo and the broader community. He also sits on the NAB committees.
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A new position of Drug and Alcohol Policy Officer in the Safe City unit is now active on both the South Sydney Licensed Premises Accord and the Redfern-Waterloo Community Drug Action Team, both forums which were initiatives of the Safety Plan.
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Safe City sit on the Babana Men's Aboriginal Committee which the City has supported by way of community grants, funding for local events including Child Protection Day and International Women's Day and is providing funding for the group's Victorian Bushfire Remembrance Day event this Friday
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The City have recently funded the Gamarada Men's Healing Group through a community grant and Safe City have provided funding for catering at meetings - our lobbying efforts have been successful in Chamber Magistrates now making referrals to that group as part of their bail conditions to support ongoing reintegration efforts - I am currently working with Gamarada on a submission to the Proceeds of Crime funding program
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Safe City provides considerable monthly funding for the Family and Cultural Day events including a free BBQ, children's activities and supporting local musicians on The Block with Sunday's most recent event attracting over 300 people
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Safe City continues to run the Good Neighbourhood BBQ program in partnership with Redfern Police and NRMA Insurance - the City funded 5 events in November 2008 and is currently planning another round in May
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the Crime Prevention Van partnership between the City, NRMA Insurance and Redfern Police continues to service the Redfern-Waterloo area in response to "hot spot" activity and which the community have said had greatly improved perceptions of crime
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Safe City continue to partly fund for the last 3 years, the StAMP Mentoring Project with the Community Restorative Centre (CRC) results of which show that Aboriginal ex-offenders are spending less time in prison and which shows great promise in terms of reducing re-offending
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this week Safe City are funding and resourcing a stall at Sydney University "O" Week in partnership with Redfern (and Newtown and Leichhardt) Police in distributing information and discussing safety and security issues with students who are commonly victims of crime in the Redfern area as outlined in the Safety Plan
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Safe City hosted a BBQ in Waterloo in December 2008 in response to a violent incident on Waterloo to assist in the healing process
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Safe City will continue to support initiatives targeting local young people such as the highly successful Midnight Basketball and Short Black Film projects pending the outcomes of the Youth Services Review
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On 2nd December 2008 Safe City hosted an annual BIZSAFE Forum at Redfern Town Hall providing safety and security advice to local businesses attracting approximately 60 businesses
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Safe City convened a Safety Forum for Seniors in the Redfern-Waterloo area in partnership with the Police Fraud Squad in August 2008 in recognition of the specific safety and security needs of local seniors - attended by approximately 40 seniors
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Safe City continue to work with planners, urban designers and developers in ensuring that new and existing developments consider safety and security issues - most recently provided input in to applications in Waterloo, Alexandria and Zetland as part of the protocol drawn up between Police and the City from the Safety Plan
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Safe City continue to give numerous presentations to community groups in the Redfern-Waterloo area including at a forum at Alexandria Town Hall for service providers and public housing tenants in Decdember 2008 and a presentation on the Redfern-Waterloo Community Safety Plan Evaluation recently attracted much attention among crime prevention delegates at the Australia-New Zealand Society of Criminology conference, November 2008
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Safe City are providing funding for the 3 Playgroups in the Park initatives in Redfern Park in 2009 as part of our continued commitment to early intervention for vulnerable families
John Maynard - Senior Project Co-ordinator - Safe City
TfNSW proposal to reverse Little Eveleigh Street - until Sept 10th 2023
