Locals block Redfern revamp

The Aboriginal Housing Company yesterday said it was prepared to fight the NSW Planning Department in court if its demands for equal floorspace with surrounding developments were not met.

In the final Built Environment Plan for the Redfern-Waterloo community, the floorspace allocation of dwellings in The Block has been raised to allow for about 60 residences, up from 30.

But AHC project manager Peter Vasilis said the new floorspace to land ratio of 0.75:1 still fell well short of surrounding residential developments which range from 2:1 to 7:1.

He accused Mr Sartor of discriminating against residents of The Block because they were Aboriginal.

"We lodged two very strong objections to the discriminatory way Mr Sartor has used his planning powers in the draft plan,'' Mr Vasilis said.

"Now he has raised the floorspace, but nowhere near enough. Everyone else has double and even triple the floorspace we have been allocated, and it will go to court if it isn't fixed.

"Planning laws are about acting equally for everyone. It's illegal for Mr Sartor to discriminate against landowners on the basis of their skin colour. We want even-handed dealing.''

Mr Sartor yesterday said the accusations of racism were unfounded and implied the AHC was too "ideologically entrenched'' to move forward.

"I believe religion and ideology are the two greatest afflictions of humanity,'' he said. "I have read the submissions of the AHC and I still believe we can achieve their goals, but it's important that we maintain a mixed use of the site.

"If they want government support, they have to try to reach a mutual understanding ... and there's a few people who may be too ideologically entrenched to move forward.''

Mr Sartor also announced yesterday $10 million would be spent converting the former court house and police station into a community health centre, and a new $6 million pedestrian and cycle bridge would be built to link North Eveleigh St with the new Australian Technology Park.

A further $16 million has been pledged by the Dept of Planning towards maintaining affordable housing for Aboriginal residents in Redfern over the next 10 years.

In response to residents' concerns, Mr Sartor said Marion St Park would be preserved in the final plan and zoned for recreation.

He said the renewal of Redfern, which includes an upgraded railway station and town centre, would fuel create up to 18,000 new jobs.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20304311-5006009,00.html

[REDWatch note: submitted to the Daily Telegraph:

The graphics associated with this web article misrepresent what has been proposed by the NSW government. The graphic showing what the Block could look like is actually of the proposed bike and pedestrian bridge at the new performing arts centre at the old North Eveleigh rail yards approximately 2 kilometres away from the Block! The Aboriginal Housing Company have produced a number of images of their Pemulwuy project proposal to clean up the Block and create a new urban aboriginal centre. The regeneration of the Block with a mix of housing, recreational, business, cultural and educational uses has been stopped by Minister Sartor. His stated opposition is that the project, which includes two thirds home ownership, has too much housing. The level of residential proposed is the same as he is allowing on surrounding land including that owned by the government. – Geoffrey Turnbull, Spokesperson REDWatch Redfern]