Redfern plan threatens cultural identity, critics say
A PLAN to
build 18-storey office towers near Redfern train station while reducing housing
around the Block has raised fears that the area will become a mini-CBD, losing
its cultural identity and heritage in the process.
Community
and welfare groups doubt the Redfern-Waterloo Authority's draft plan for the
area will provide jobs for residents, despite the addition of 440,000 extra
square metres of employment space.
They are also
worried about the lack of open space, the failure to protect heritage buildings
and the absence of a transport strategy in the draft plan.
The
harshest criticism comes from the Aboriginal Housing Company, which owns the
Block and says the authority's plan for the symbolic heart of Sydney's Aboriginal community is unfair and
racially discriminatory.
The vision
for the Block changes the site's zoning from residential to "mixed
use", encouraging business developments in buildings with a three-storey
height limit but allowing only 30 homes. The restrictions kill off the
Aboriginal Housing Company's proposal to build 62 new homes.
In his
submission responding to the authority's draft plan, the company's chief
executive, Mick Mundine, questioned why the Aboriginal-owned land was the only
zone in the Redfern-Waterloo area for which reduced housing densities were
proposed.
"It
[the plan] proposes an unfair and racially discriminatory treatment for
different land owners in Redfern without any legitimate planning
rationale," Mr Mundine said.
His
submission was backed by the lawyer John Mant and planner Richard Smyth, who
said the treatment of the Block was inconsistent with the State Government's
Metropolitan Strategy, which encourages increased housing density near train
stations.
The draft
plan was released in February by the Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, who said
the creation of 18,000 jobs and 2000 homes in the Redfern-Waterloo region over
the next 10 years would "break the cycle of opportunity". It
foreshadows a revamp of Redfern train station, including the development of an
"urban boulevard" linking it with shops and other businesses in
nearby Redfern Street,
and 18-storey office towers along the main roads near the station.
In its
submission responding to the plan, the NSW Council of Social Service says the
huge commercial developments would make Redfern a larger business hub than
Chatswood. It urges the Redfern-Waterloo Authority to better explain what the
social and environmental aspects of such development would be.
While the
authority says the new office blocks and other businesses will provide jobs for
local people - one of the most disadvantaged groups in Sydney - community
groups and the City of Sydney Council
disagree.
Geoff
Turnbull, a spokesman for the local community group REDWatch, said: "The
sorts of jobs that are going to be on offer are not the sorts of jobs that the
people in our housing are qualified for."
The City of
Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor,
Verity Firth, called for a greater
focus on developing small businesses that would create appropriate job
opportunities for local people.
In its
submission, the City of Sydney
has called on the Redfern-Waterloo Authority to defer the draft plan until it
could provide further detail on several matters, including the provision of
affordable housing and open space, and heritage protection.
The deadline for submissions is Tuesday.
Link to SMH story Redfern plan threatens cultural identity, critics say