Fix Redfern station: Sydney Council pleads

Last week the council formally expressed its “profound dismay’’ that the announced upgrade of Newtown station was not accompanied by an upgrade of Redfern station and called on the State Government to bring forward any plans for station improvements.

Redfern is one of the busiest in the network yet it is one of the most difficult to negotiate with no lifts, choke-point exits, poor interchange options and dangerous overcrowding.

It is meant to serve a growing urban population yet has received no funding to achieve this.

Surrounded by a constellation of urban hubs - Redfern town centre, Sydney University, Eveleigh, CarriageWorks, Australian Technology Park - it is crucial that the station serves growing demand.

The call to action by Sydney Council was brought about by Councillor John McInerney.

“State Rail seems to be the blockage in all of this,’’ Cr McInerney said. “Discussions took place in 2000 but it has been a litany of non-achievement, a sad history of various plans.’’

Cr McInerney said the council had painstakingly drawn up its own plans for Newtown station revitalisation in consultation with the community, which were completely ignored by the State when it announced its upgrade plans recently.

The Newtown upgrade plans have drawn criticism from the community for their imposing design and lack of heritage sympathy.

Back at Redfern station, Cr McInerney said there had been a change of emphasis from the idea that a station upgrade would drive urban development in Redfern, to the idea that station upgrades were dependent on urban development in Redfern.

He said the station was completely inaccessible for people with disabilities.

“We were promised an upgrade for 10 years.’’

Cr McInerney suspected that the State would announce upgrade plans without any intention to consult with the community or council.

Platforms at Redfern are too thin, according to Geoff Turnbull, spokesperson for Redfern residents group Redwatch.

Also, all the city’s rail lines travelled through Redfern which meant that any upgrades would shut down the network.

“Eighteen months ago we were told that RailCorp wanted to do the big development while the Redfern Waterloo Authority wanted to do a smaller development and when real estate prices went up in 30 years, come back and do the big development.’’

Funding for the station upgrade was supposed to have come from the sale of land at North Eveleigh, Mr Turnbull said.

However this sale was put on hold because of the financial downturn, despite the fact that Sydney University had expressed interest in a purchase.

Mr Turnbull is a member of the built environment community consultative committee with the RWA.

He said the committee had not been shown any upgrade concept plans.

“Who knows what is happening, because no one has been allowed to see anything,’’ he said.

Mr Turnbull pointed to several developments in the pipeline which would further burden the station: The RSL site, Channel 7 and an 18-storey residential development among others.

He said station permeability was a key issue, and accused the RWA of operating under an acute conflict of interest and behind closed doors.

A spokeswoman for RWA said: “The RWA is working in close co-operation with RailCorp to develop a concept design for the future upgrade of Redfern station.

“As outlined in the Redfern Waterloo Plan, the RWA is committed to ensuring that the redevelopment of Redfern station contributes significantly to the ongoing urban renewal for the Redfern Waterloo area.”

``Funds for the upgrade of the station will come from the sale of the North Eveleigh rail yards, that was approved for redevelopment by the Minister for Planning and Minister for Redfern Waterloo earlier this year.

Source: http://sydney-central.whereilive.com.au/news/story/fix-redfern-station-sydney-council-pleads/