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What is happening in South Sydney?

We know South Sydney has always been a happening place, but there is so much going on at the present time, that we have decided to give ISV readers a snapshot on the latest situation. These changes are rolling along and peak at different times so unless you are in the middle of it, it is hard to keep up - that is, until the place suddenly looks different. Driving down Regent Street today, suddenly there is a set of metal spikes sticking up from a surrounding fence - it can't be left over barricading from World Youth Day, so it must be a sculpture that must have been in a plan somewhere - but who can keep up? Looked very un-Redfern reports Inner Sydney Voice Spring 2008.

As well as the massive changes being wrought by the Redfern Waterloo Authority and City of Sydney Council at Redfern Park, there are two huge new residential developments currently being processed - the CUB site is imminent and the huge Green Square redevelopment is moving along.

We are also interested in the fate of the small community organisations that have had to move due to the sale or changes in use of Government property and to the local tenants of Housing NSW properties that have been demolished. There are also the existing community groups trying to work well in the face of constant restructure and review - both real and threatened. It is just as well we have the vigilant Redwatch Residents action group and Geoff and Lyn Turnbull's excellent associated email as well as the new South Sydney Interagency.

What is the Redfern Waterloo Authority up to?

The impact of the Redfern Waterloo Authority is still huge as it drives redevelopment of Redfern Waterloo, Eveleigh and Darlington. Their latest newsletter is trumpeting the movement of Channel 7 onto the ATP site, the upgrade of Redfern Station, increase in koori jobs.

It is only when one ducks under the spray of spin and hype and knows something about what is really happening, that the actual situation becomes clearer. The RWA website still has the temerity to talk positively about its consultation with the community, when most local people and community services have given up trying to interact in any meaningful way - noting that the insulting attitude to community organisations used in the Morgan Disney Report in 2004 is still being used in the Human Services Plan Stage 2 released recently.

The funding of the RWA in the latest state budget gives another view on what changes will actually happen because there is money attached. There is $4.648m for the redevelopment of the community health centre at the former Redfern police station and courthouse. There is also $3.7m in "funds for the Redfern-Waterloo Authority to construct the North Eveleigh pedestrian bridge and improve the precinct". RWA's operational funding for 2008-09 is $5m.

We cannot see any budget for the Human Services Unit, which was said to be disbanded as of June 2008. If so, who will implement the Human Services Plan Stage 1 (recently evaluated) and Stage 2 as released in mid July? Given the minimal rate of improvement achieved so far, perhaps little will be lost.

North Eveleigh and Sydney University

Another area soon to be turned on its head is North Eveleigh, which is the latest part of the Redfern Waterloo 'great flog off'. The redevelopment plans need to be looked at in the light of the Sydney University Expansion Plans. These show the university reaching across to North Eveleigh and trying to pretend that they will not swallow up everything in between. The plan intends to make the university less inward focused, by removing walls and putting a friendly face towards the street to attract 'the community' to use the ever increasing precinct, for improved safety. This could include putting shops into the new Union Building. Not content with overrunning Eveleigh, the university planners want to expand west, from Harold Park to Rozelle. Weaving in and out of these plans is the latest study on the traffic implications of this huge redevelopment on narrow inner city streets.

Carlton United Brewery (CUB) site

"The Hanging Gardens of Broadway"

Residents have been battling with developers over this huge new development for years. The new developers, Frasers, have come up with many changes that encouraged residents to think they had been listened to.

These include a six star green precinct that has tri-generation, which produces electricity on site and uses the power production to provide both heating and cooling throughout the site. Water harvesting both from rain water and sewerage are parts of the environmental package which may see the site export some services to the surrounding community.

There have also been improvements to traffic and parking. The road defined grid pattern has been removed and most vehicles will enter an underground car park close to the boundary of the site, leaving the public part of the site for people. The number of car spaces is reduced from 2,300 to 2,000 with the car parking available for residents, commercial and entertainment use rather than sold off with units or offices. Future provision for charging of electronic cars and car share places is factored in.

Publicly accessible space has been increased by 33%, with a new square made possible by moving one of the buildings and raising the floor space in the commercial development on the corner of Abercrombie Street and Broadway from 40% to 50%. Frasers have purchased the balance of properties in Kensington Street and are proposing to turn this area into an 'edgy' entertainment precinct. Leading architects are creating designs for the tower opposite UTS, which they say is evocative of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The payback for all these goodies is the provision of a 6% increase in floor space. This stunned residents who had continually criticised the high density as a major flaw. Frasers said that the increase may not be all used, but that they need it to cover some of their increased costs. The question remains whether the increased density is an acceptable price to pay for the improvements.

Housing NSW

Trying to assess the amount of change in Public Housing properties in South Sydney and in particular the large estates in Redfern and Waterloo is not easy. This is because the changes are about the nature of tenancies and therefore the people being housed, rather than the buildings. As Shelter NSW so rightly puts it "The public housing sector in NSW has been through a time of dramatic transformation, with the introduction of the NSW Government's plan for reshaping public housing and the implementation of community renewal and regeneration projects, the NSW Housing and Human Services Accord and other programs. The increasing prevalence of housing stress and homelessness has further accelerated the challenges facing the public housing system".

The most obvious evidence of the huge changes is the ground zero where several high-rises stood on the corner of Morehead and Walker Streets.

We understand this was supposed to be a private-public partnership, but the private investment has not been forthcoming so Housing NSW will foot the bill. Certainly, the sign on the site talks about 106 new seniors living units and family terraces delivered by the NSW Government - Building Stronger Communities and no other funder is mentioned. Also worrying is the moving of the PCYC on the corner. Since the ground is swampy and the building is sinking, getting a private firm to take on this problem is not likely. On course, we are mostly concerned about the resident's experience of these changes. Some long -term residents have alternate accommodation and have been promised that they will return, while others have been moved permanently. The fact that the RWA has not got involved in making changes to any public housing, suggests that the changes planned by Housing NSW are going in the direction that the RWA wants - that is addressing the negative impact of Housing NSW concentrating significant numbers of increasingly high need people in Redfern and Waterloo. We are not being told how this is being done. A visit late last year by the Housing Minister, saw the Chamber of Commerce asking for sensible measures such as making sure 'The Accord' actually provides services to older people and people with mental health problems; that police are able to deal with drinking on the street and at Waterloo Green; that there is good property and ground maintenance on Housing NSW properties and ensuring new developments are consulted about and are integrated into the broader community and businesses.

Community services moved off sold government property

Redfern Community Health Centre

The Redfern Community Health Centre has been moved from the old Rachel Forster Hospital site which the RWA has recently sold for a private housing development. It will eventually go into new premises on the former Court House and Police Station site which has not yet begun construction. Because of the sale, the Redfern Community Health Centre has had to move from the hospital site and make alternative arrangements for what is expected to be about 18 months until a new centre is built. Other community groups who used the facilities at Rachel Forster have also lost their meeting place.

The Mental Health Team and Community HIV/AID Services have relocated to 155 Pitt St Redfern. The Community Nursing team has relocated to Building 11 on the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Campus. (Thanks to Redwatch for this information)

It is interesting to note the importance of the Community Health Centre in delivering

health services to the Aboriginal community set out in the RWA Human Services Plan Phase 2. Let's hope the disruption of moving the service will not get in the way of achieving the Human Services Plan.

Aboriginal Supported Playgroup

One of the services that was moved when Redfern Public School was sold, was the Gamarada Learning Centre, which is an Aboriginal supported families and children's playgroup run on Montessori principles. The parents and volunteers have found it hard to find a new place to meet their requirements since they left in 2006. They need to be in a public school to make links from the preschool into the early school experience, which requires co-operation from the Department of Education locally for premises. They were offered a space in Bourke Street Public School, which was too small, so went looking for alternatives and finally had to use a temporary space at the PCYC as part of a multi-purpose room. A larger space was found in Bourke Street Public School so they have settled there, although the Aboriginal people for whom the preschool is intended live in Redfern and Waterloo.

There is still the question of whether we need a public school in Redfern, given the projected growth of population.

South Sydney Community Aid

This organisation shows the resilience that allows community organisations to survive despite huge odds - especially when those odds are created by a government authority that was supposed to be improving the human services situation in Redfern and Waterloo. After being required to leave Redfern Public School, they had a desperate search for suitable premises that included considering having to pay for market rent in commercial premises. Thank goodness for the City of Sydney Council who allowed them to use Alexandria Town Hall. This provided suitable office and meeting room space. The Centre is now able to use the excellent upstairs facilities when not booked. Anyone who has attended the recent events - their 30th birthday and the Refugee Week morning tea are in no doubt that the Centre is delivering excellent services to the local community - just that they are no longer in Redfern or Waterloo - they are in Alexandria.

Keeping up with the changes

One of the best things about South Sydney has always been the involvement of local people and community organisations. Although there is a fair amount of disadvantage, it has been balanced by the opportunities for people to stick together and help each other.

This 'social capital' is still evident in South Sydney, but has not been supported through the huge changes we have described. Large government interventions and large community-based human services do not on the whole build social capital - they might offer consultation (which is really giving information about their great plans) and certainly do not take kindly when locals say they do not like the changes.

Community organisations respond by keeping their own organisations strong, trying to interact with the change agents in a positive way when they see something positive being done - and just as helpful though not always see that way - saying when they see a mistake is being made.

REDwatch

REDWatch is a community group that covers the Sydney suburbs of Redfern Eveleigh Darlington and Waterloo. The local residents and workers who form this excellent resident action group say they exist "to monitor Government involvement in our area and to push for outcomes that benefit the community and not just the government".

REDwatch uses information distribution, especially email, to make sure residents and service providers are informed of the latest movements - current development plans, government reports, requests for submissions and 'consultations'. Government knows that REDwatch is on top of all the changes and that they will be called to account.

South Sydney Interagency

There has been a recent revival of the South Sydney Interagency, which in the past has been run by South Sydney Council. Regional Council has taken on the role of facilitation and at least 60 services that either are based in South Sydney or provide services into South Sydney are on the contact list. The first meeting was opened by the Director of NCOSS and we have already had a consultation with them about needs in the area. The Interagency provides the opportunity for services to inform others about their work, discuss common issues in South Sydney and invite resource people to talk to us.

Waterloo Green

The Housing Community Assistance Project (HCAP) worker, based at the Factory Community Centre, is working with local tenants on the housing estates to get something done about issues that are concerning them. They are focusing on The Waterloo Green Project, where they are calling in local services, council, the RWA and police to get some results around the problems of drinking, noise and lack of safety on the open space between the hi-rise buildings. This effort is building on the work done previously by the Community Safety Taskforce led by council. For some reason, it has been extremely hard to get solutions to this issue, that needs a combination of upgrading the locality physically, policing on Housing NSW property and getting drug and alcohol services. They have just put out a report card on all the strategies to date.

Losing the history

Residents are starting a campaign for a better outcome for the Eveleigh railway workshops significant site. They feel it is vital that cultural and historical aspects of the community need to be respected and maintained during any period of change, to give meaning and context to the present. This was a feature in early plans for the Australian Technology Park, but new plans being put out by the Redfern Waterloo Authority will spoil the historical precinct. The site will have buildings between four and sixteen stories (equivalent to the TNT Towers), parking for almost 2,000 cars, construction of over 1,200 dwellings for 2,400 new residents and unsympathetic reuse of heritage buildings, including an apartment building on top of the historic Paintshop which would require demolition.

The former Eveleigh Railway Workshop complex is locally, nationally and internationally recognised for its history and heritage. It played an instrumental role in the development of the country's rail network and was the site of the commencement of the Great National Strike in 1917. Structurally it provides a fine example of 1880s Georgian architecture, described by the Smithsonian Institute as one of the rarest and most intact industrial precincts in the world. But it does not turn enough bucks for the RWA, so will have to be ruined in the cause of development.

Source: Inner Sydney Voice - Support ISRCSD by subscribing to Inner Sydney Voice  www.innersydney.org.au/innersydneyvoice/subscribe.cfm