RED First Presentation & Feedback - Text

June 2003 DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION 1

1 Welcome and Purpose

The RWPP acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the traditional owners of the country where the RED Strategy initiative is to take place. The RWPP also acknowledge and recognise the special historical significance that Redfern and its surrounds holds for Aboriginal people and the significance of Redfern to the socio political struggle for Aboriginal people both locally and nationally.

Welcome to today's Community Information and Feedback Session. The purpose of this session is for us to test with you some of the issues that members of the community have previously raised. We have taken those issues and developed some options, we want to know if the options are consistent with community needs and expectations. This is the first event in an ongoing process that will lead to a Planning framework to guide the future of the RED (Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo) area. The purpose of this session is for unto test with members of the community some of the options that have been developed so far and to assess whether they are consistent with community needs and expectations. We are very interested in what you have to say.

As yet no final planning framework has been developed for the RED area. The material presented today is to inform you of the work conducted so far and to serve as springboard for discussion. Please inspect the presentation and feel free to discuss your views and aspirations for your area with the consultant team. Your feedback is valuable to us and will be used to further refine the various planning options before we bring them back to you on June 25th.

The consultant team is: Project Manager:

• Redfern Waterloo Partnership/ Planning NSW

Michael Ramsay

Denny Hall

Planing Consultants:

• Cox Richardson

Bob Meyer

Marc Stringa

Oleksandra Babych

• Sphere Consulting
• Transport and Traffic Planning Associates

Community Engagement:

• Elton Consulting
• Brendan Blakeley
• Alia Elassi
• Belinda Pittorino
• Ninna Millikan

2 The Study Area and Context

Economic Crescent

Motorway

Railway

Existing

• RED is at the heart of the emerging Sydney Economic Crescent which stretches from Macquarie University to Sydney Airport and is focussed on the Orbital and the metropolitan rail network.
• The RED area is generally located between the Eastern Distributor, Cleveland Street, Sydney, University and the Green Square area.
• The area is strategically located 4km from Circular Quay, 2km from the southern CBD and 1 km from Broadway.

Potential

• The potential future of RED is influenced by the proximity to the Sydney CBD, three of Sydney's leading universities, and its accessibility to the Sydney Region via Redfern Station and the Orbital, less than 2 km to the east.
• The extensive government land holdings allows extensive redevelopment opportunities.

3 The Study Area

Existing

• The Study area represents 340ha and is  defined by Cleveland Street to the North, Eastern Distributor to the east, O'Dea Avenue, Bourke Street, Botany Road,  McEvoy Street, Fountain Street, Mitchell  Road, Henderson Road and Railway Parade to the south and Newtown to the west.
• The area is characterised by inner city terrace housing, multi unit housing and industrial structures such as factories and warehouses.
• The original street grid pattern is generally still intact, however, the area suffers from regional traffic accessing the CBD from the airport and industrial areas to the south.
• The largest land holdings are the former Eveleigh rail yards, the Department of ' Housing estates and Sydney University's Darlington Campus,

4 Population Distribution

 Total Population = 19,926 2001Census Data

Background

• The RED area now houses 20,000 people. However in 1921 the area contained over 50,000 people and in 1947 it contained nearly 43,000 people.

Potential

• Redevelopment of former industrial areas along South Dowling Street edge will raise the population above the current 20,000.
• RED has the potential of achieving a better social balance, a more vibrant community and better access to employment and community facilities.

5 Transport

Existing

• Redfern Station is served by every line in the Sydney region, making it the most accessible, after Central, on the metropolitan rail network.
• RED is served by the STA bus network giving access to most areas in inner Sydney. However the bus routes are not specifically located to serve the RED population, rather they are through routes, they do, however, serve Redfern Station.

Potential

• A local bus network similar to the Perth CBD's Central Area Transport (CAT) bus could serve RED and be within 5 minutes walk of each resident. This bus would access the four railway stations, Redfern, Macdonaldtown, Erskineville and Green Square.
• The possibility of the Sydney Light Rail being extended from Central Railway to Redfern, Sydney University City Road and, Broadway could to be explored.

6 Traffic

Existing

• Much of the RED area is being infiltrated by regional, long distance, non local traffic either via the Southern Arterial, made up of Regent-Botany-Gibbons-Wyndham Streets network or via rat runs through local streets to avoid the Eastern Distributor toll.
• The “rat run” issue can best be resolved by encouraging traffic to use the “ring” system around RED i.e. Cleveland, McEvoy, King Streets.
• The “ring road” around RED will not, however, solve the key traffic issue of the Southern Arterial which bisects the RED area and has a dramatic impact on the Redfern Station precinct.
• It should be noted that the current RTA proposal extending the two-way pair out of Botany Road and Wyndham Street will exacerbate the volume of traffic passing through the Redfern Railway Precinct.

Potential

• Redfern Town Centre to be free of Regional Traffic Impacts.
• An opportunity exists where Regent and Gibbons Streets can be placed in tunnels under the Railway Precinct, Regent Street emerging to meet Cleveland Street at grade and Gibbons Street emerging in Abercrombie Street, beyond Cleveland Street.
• Removing, what is likely to be increasing volumes on the Southern Arterial will allow the railway precinct to become the true heart of RED and offers outstanding urban design opportunities.

7 Public Domain

Existing

A number of parks and open space are scattered throughout the RED area. These parks are:

• Badly connected and poorly accessible for pedestrians and cyclists;
• the RED area is surrounded by significant regional open space;
• Redfern Oval is not accessible by the general public;
• Parts of the public domain are perceived as being unusable and unsafe

Potential

An opportunity exists where Regent and Gibbons Streets, can be placed in tunnels under the Railway Precinct, Regent Street emerging to meet Cleveland Street at grade and Gibbons Street emerging in Abercrombie Street, beyond Cleveland Street.

Removing what is likely to be increasing volumes on the Southern Arterial will allow the railway precinct to become the true heart of RED and offers outstanding urban design opportunities. It should be noted that establishing a two way pair out of Botany Road and Wyndham Street will excavate the volume of traffic passing through the Redfern Railway Precinct.

8 Town Centre

Existing

• Much of the RED area is being infiltrated by regional, long distance, non-focal traffic either, via the Southern Arterial, made up of Regent -Botany-Gibbons-Wyndham Streets network to avoid Eastern Distributor toll
• The decline in trade in Redfern and Regent Street reflects the poor commercial success of this centre.
• The railway station and the immediate environment does not serve as a focus for the local area.

Potential

• An opportunity exists where Regent and Gibbons Streets can be placed in tunnels under the Redfern Railway Precinct, Regent Street emerging to meet Cleveland Street at grade and Gibbons Street emerging in Abercrombie Street, beyond Cleveland Street.
• Streetscape improvements such as those achieved for King Street, Newtown, (overhead wires placed on buildings so as to remove poles) or Oxford Street, Darlinghurst (coordinated colour schemes and facade preservation) or Crown Street Surry Hills (two-way traffic, all day short term parking) or Norton Street (reflecting the distinctive cultural identity of the area).
• Other streetscape initiatives such as footpath widening (Willoughby Road,. Crows Nest) tree planting and intensive street lighting.
• Direct links into a new entry to Redfern Station needs to be provided, in order to position Redfern Station as the key focus of RED and the generator of population and employment growth.
• Provide for short-term, 24 hour, parking both on Redfern and Regent Streets (like Crown Street, eliminating clearway conditions) and in specific parking areas behind Redfern Street, similar to Surry Hills Shopping Centre (corner Cleveland and Baptist Streets).
• Accessibility by local public transport to allow the large numbers of residents within RED who do not own or have access to a car to use Redfern/Regent Streets as their retail and community centre.
• Increases in the number of people working and living in the area will help boost the viability of retail and service outlets.
• Large scale supermarkets need to be encouraged to boost the areas attractiveness and help retain household expenditure from the whole RED area.

9 Employment

Existing

• Redfern, after Central, is the most accessible railway station on the metropolitan electric rail system. Every line passes through Redfern which could be considered as a CBS station. There are currently only 2300 jobs within a 500m radius and 10,400 jobs within 1 kilometre radius of the station. This is an underutilization of one of the government’s greatest assets, Redfern Station.
• There are a number of redevelopment opportunities adjacent to the station such as railway lands, council depots and the TNT car park.

Potential

• When fully developed sites immediately around the station could provide around 5000 additional jobs. The development of the air rights above the station could provide another 5,000 jobs.
• The greatest opportunity is the government owned ATP site and adjacent railway lands to the west, which together measures 26 ha and could employ doubling anticipated workforce in the existing master plan.
• Redfern could become a major employment destination station.
• With the minimal input on the existing amenity of the area Redfern could accommodate the southern expansion of the CBD delivering up to 20,000 jobs within 400m of the station.
• In the short to medium term employment growth is the key to driving improvement through the Redfern.

10 Government Landholdings

Existing

• Government Landholdings total almost 1/3 of the Red area.
• These holdings are divided between rail uses, open space housing and administrative functions.
• A co-ordinated approach to the management of this land will allow the efficient use of government assets.

Potential

• The release underutilised government land for development will focus the town centre around Redfern Railway Station.
• A co-ordinated approach for the public domain will ensure accessibility through the area and beyond.
• Population increase can be achieved within land under government ownership through partial partnership arrangements.
• Over the long term there is potential to redevelop key sites within the RED area for residential use. It is important to maintain a broad and sustainable social mix in Redfern by encouraging a combination of public housing, affordable housing and private housing options.

11 North Redfern and Red Square

Existing

• Aboriginal people have lived in this area before colonisation took place. The area was-inhabited by the Gadigal people, whose land extended from South Head to Port Jackson.
• The total indigenous population in the RED area is 4% of the total population.
• The Block which holds significant cultural and historic place with the aboriginal community, is currently underutilised and has a low level of amenity

Potential

• It is the strong view of the Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) that the block and its surroundings can be comprehensively re-developed with high quality housing.
• The redevelopment of the block and the design of the public d0main; facilitates the physical connection of the block into the RED area and serves as a catalyst for economic revitalisation through opportunities serving the needs of the aboriginal community
• Streetscape improvements and landscaping programs will improve the appearance of the area. The councils redevelopment of the Wilson Bros site as a multipurpose building, will further enhance the connection this area within the broader RED area

The Next Steps

We thank you very much for taking the time to attend this Community Information and Feedback Session.

Your valuable comments will be independently, collated by Elton Consulting and used by the consultant team to further refine the options you have seen today.

We will hold another Community Information and Feedback Session at the Redfern Town Hall between 6.00 & 8.00 PM 25th of June. At this session we will seek your comments on the options as revised in response to the community feedback receive today.

Community feedback will be documented in an outcomes report that will accompany the Draft Planning Framework when it is submitted to Planning NSW the consent authority for the Red Strategy Planning Framework.

Once the final plan is lodged there will be further opportunity to comment during the statutory exhibition period.

Please complete the attendance register and if you wish to comment, fill out a feedback form and place it in the box. It would be appreciated if you could provide your feedback to us today. If this is not possible could you please return it to Elton Consulting by the 17th June 2003.