Progress, not panic, for Darlington business

Last month the SSH invited the Darlington business community and friends and CEO of the Redfern-Waterloo Authority, Robert Domm, to discuss the future of Darlington shops.

The meeting was held at Ella’s Café on Abercrombie Street.

Mr Domm revealed that plans to sell off parts of North Eveleigh were before State Cabinet. The money from the sale would contribute to the redevelopment of Redfern Station, he said, which is due to be completed by 2012.

Along with a footbridge connecting Alexandria to Darlington on the west side of the station, the plan includes more residential properties as well as a 16-storey apartment building that Mr Domm described as a commercial solution to a public problem.

Many members of the Darlington community, as well as Sydney University staff and students, have long expressed concerns that the footpaths along Lawson Street are dangerously narrow and pose a danger to anyone walking against the flow.

As well as the problems with Lawson Street, there are concerns about the snail-paced progress of upgrades to the station itself which Mr Domm said were attributable to the two neighbouring arterial roads.

Redfern Railway Station, one of Sydney’s busiest, has been neglected by the State Government and State Rail Authority since plans to upgrade it were shelved in 2002.

Along with the general ageing of the station, the platform is too thin in front of the guard’s house and the station’s design excludes access to the elderly and disabled.

Woolworths is currently inspecting the train maintenance sheds, near the Carriage Works, which are also to be sold in the proposal. Mr Domm said that, with the increase in population within the area due to the sale of the North Eveleigh site, a supermarket would not be entirely unwelcome.

State Member for Marrickville Carmel Tebutt, and the City of Sydney’s Andrea Tattam were also present at the meeting.

Photo: Jack Carnegie Caption: Robert Domm addresses representatives of Darlington business community

Source: South Sydney Herald March 2008 - www.southsydneyherald.com.au