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Square shelved after RailCorp pulls pin

A PLAN for a large public square to open up the Block to greater Redfern and encourage Aboriginal and white residents to mix has been shelved because RailCorp would not meet the Aboriginal Housing Company to discuss the inner-city ghetto reports Joel Gibson Indigenous Affairs Reporter for the SMH on 7 September 2007.

The company, which owns most of the land on the Block, expects to present its 400-page concept plan for a $40 million redevelopment of the troubled area to the NSW Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, next week.

But it was forced to jettison the plan's centrepiece because RailCorp cancelled several meetings and pulled the pin on discussions without explanation, the project director, Peter Valilis, said.

The proposed 500-square-metre "Red Square" would have featured markets and linked Redfern station and Lawson Street to Tony Mundine's gym, an indigenous art gallery and the residential areas of the Block.

But its construction would require a triangular truss to be built over the railway lines as they approach Redfern station from the north. The wall that partially hides the Block from view would then be demolished and the area opened up to Lawson Street and the station.

RailCorp executives initially supported the idea, provided it cost it nothing and was structurally safe, Mr Valilis said. An engineer's report found the plan to be sound, but discussions stalled in September last year.

The housing company has since filed a freedom of information request in an attempt to learn RailCorp's intentions for Redfern station. "We had a very good relationship with RailCorp but suddenly, out of the blue, about 12 months ago they pulled the pin [on our discussions]," Mr Valilis said. "We've heard they are planning to close off the Lawson Street entrance to the station and that their plan was to build another station on the Eveleigh goods yards side … They were concerned about the safety of their staff."

The company's chief executive, Mick Mundine, said it was common sense to create a public space at the top of the Block.

"We want to open it up. We have got to be part of the community. We've had problems on the Block because we were isolated. It will be better for the railway station, for the police, and for people [who want] to walk through and mingle."

Geoff Turnbull from the REDWatch activist group said the greater Redfern community wanted an end to uncertainty over the future of the Block. The ambitious plan for the symbolic heart of Aboriginal Sydney includes 62 dwellings for 300 to 400 Aboriginal people - about the same number as in the 1980s.

Residential and commercial buildings will be separated, with businesses located around the now-truncated Red Square.

The floor-space ratio of the housing is 0.8:1, which the company hopes will be close enough to the 0.75:1 stipulated by the Redfern-Waterloo Authority's built environmental plan. Elsewhere in the City of Sydney municipality, developers are only asked to meet a 1:1 ratio.

Consultants have given $5 million worth of pro bono services to prepare the plan, which will be funded by private equity and commercial rents, according to Mr Valilis.

But Mr Mundine remains sceptical about whether the Government will approve it.

"Do you honestly believe that anyone would object to 62 houses being built here for white people? No chance. It's the colour of our skin that divides us. It's such a shame."

Due to the relevant person being unavailable, RailCorp was unable to respond to the company's claims last night, a spokesperson said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/square-shelved-after-railcorp-pulls-pin/2007/09/06/1188783415529.html