Erskineville “not a village in need of a supermarket”

The local action group Friends of Erskineville organised the gathering and sausage sizzle. The action group, which comprises approximately 30 Erskineville residents who oppose the development of the supermarket, was originally set up to provide a medium for Erskineville residents to discuss and ask questions concerning the Development Application proposal and process. Well over 100 Erskineville residents turned up to the gathering on the Village Green, highlighting the very broad community support for the integrity of the unique suburb.

At present, there stands an application to build a 2,138 square metre, two-level Woolworths supermarket at what is currently known as the HIVE building on the corner of Erskineville Road and Gowrie Street. The action group’s website states that such a development could increase traffic to unmanageable levels, impact parking and cause closures of the boutique shops.

Brett Mason, a member of the action group, discussed the traffic scenario at the Village Green, informing residents that the current Development Application proposes 30 car parking spaces, yet Woolworths would need approximately 300 customers per hour to break even financially. “Combined with deliveries being made by trucks and vans on an already gridlocked traffic situation in Erskineville, this could have disastrous consequences for the village”.

Artro Management Pty Ltd, which lodged the development application, currently seeks a 12-month trial of 7am to midnight opening hours, seven days per week. According to Artro, no deliveries would be made outside of those hours and would only occur in a loading dock behind the supermarket.

Local resident and semi-retired architect Virginia Pearson-Smith believes that Woolworths would aim to monopolise the grocery industry in the area by lowering their prices to levels that other businesses cannot viably compete with. “The theory is that when they do that, the local shops will pull out, go bankrupt or move on. That’s their strategy.”

The Development Application is still in assessment by the City of Sydney Council. Lord Mayor Clover Moore said that it is unlikely to go to committee before May at the earliest, as she would first like to seek preliminary expert advice on traffic. She addressed residents directly, informing them that “as decision makers, we are going to get the report and all the information and then we will have to make that decision”.

The action group remains confident. Since the December 12, more than 200 residents have attended community meetings about the proposal and 326 individual letters have been written to the City of Sydney Council and to Woolworths. In addition, over 4,000 people have signed a petition demanding a suspension of the Development Application until a full impact study has been completed, and proper, informed community consultation has taken place.

Friends of Erskineville spokesperson Paul Howard says that whatever the outcome, Erskineville has achieved its objective as a community, as the council is giving a serious evaluation of this proposal.

Saso Bosevski, a local delicatessen owner, summed up the arguments of many residents aptly. “Erskineville is not a village in need of a supermarket. Erskineville is a village because we don’t have a supermarket.”

For more information, please visit the Friends of Erskineville Working Group’s

website: www.erskinevillevillage.org

Photo: Benjamin Tedeschi Erskineville residents against proposed supermarket