Redfern’s stalled dreams

That plan was the creation of the Redfern-Waterloo Authority, with the planning powers to reshape the two suburbs.

But when the RWA turns five in October, it will have little to be proud of, according to its critics, which include the NSW Opposition, community groups, Sydney Council and residents.

The original idea was that through a major redevelopment of the old Eveleigh rail yards, the Block and a rethinking of public housing, the suburb would be a new and revitalised community in the heart of Sydney, bridging the CBD to the north and the airport to the south.

The huge areas of public housing flats would be broken up and redeveloped to integrate private renters and improve the area’s social dynamic.

Through legislation passed in 2004, the RWA was created as the principal body for this massive transformation, answerable only to the Minister for Planning, at the time Frank Sartor.

It served as a golden opportunity to remove planning powers from a local government seen as hostile and hand them to an all-powerful authority under State Government control. There was also money to be made. Lots of it.

Cabinet papers leaked to the media just before the RWA was created show an estimated $5 billion worth of development was there for the making, one third on government land.

Five years later the RWA has yet to achieve the bulk of its aims.

The linchpin in the whole redevelopment of the area, Redfern station, is in limbo with the Government persistently refusing to reveal how far along the most recent redevelopment plans have progressed.

Successive plans and ideas put forward for the station since the mid 1990s have fallen by the wayside and the last date set for an upgrade, 2011, looks highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, the station, which is the third busiest on the metropolitan line, lacks even the basics of a busy rail interchange such as disabled access.

The built environment plan phase 2, which will provide detailed guidelines about the type of development plans and controls the RWA will impose on coming redevelopment, still has not been released, 18 months after it was first promised.

Another major component yet to be determined is the redevelopment of north Eveleigh, which has stalled with the Government unable to decide whether to allow the University of Sydney to expand its campus onto the site or allow a more lucrative mix of commercial and residential redevelopment.

NSW Greens MLC Sylvia Hale criticised the lack of transparency and called on the RWA to reveal what stage the railway station upgrade was at and to release a built environment plan.

“There seems to a be a sort of malaise that’s set in,’’ Ms Hale said. “The Government is the largest landowner and yet no one really knows what the Government’s plans are for the future of the area. The railway station upgrade design has not been finalised nor released nor is there any clear transparency in how the RWA operates.

The Minister for Redfern and Waterloo, Kristina Keneally, who is also the local MP for the area, said she personally had worked toward improving the RWA’s relationship with the community and towards reaching its objectives.

“This is important to the Minister as she knows from her experience as the Member for Heffron how crucial it is for the RWA, Government and community to work in partnership,” a spokesman for Ms Keneally said.

Ms Keneally said several significant steps had already been taken in the last 12 months to rebuild the relationship between the RWA and local community including the replacement of Robert Domm with Mr Wakelin-King as CEO, regular face-to-face meetings with public housing tenants and community and business groups and visiting the Eveleigh Markets regularly.

Geoff Turnbull from community group REDWatch said some steps had been taken in improving the relationship.

“There are number of things that have changed as a result of Kristine Keneally coming in,” Mr Turnbull said. “Such as talking with Sydney Council about addressing issues along Redfern street for local business and using committees to take input on development, something which has not happened before. “Having said that, we are talking relatively small bickies here.”

The issue, according to Mr Turnbull, is whether this newfound approach to consultation is going to apply to something that really mattered like the upgrade of Redfern station, heritage concerns about the sale of the Australian Technology Park or the sale of the north Eveleigh rail yards to a developer.

“That will become the litmus test of whether or not there really has been a change,” he said."We are well down the track and still don’t have any answers.”