Erko supermarket – it’s happening

Last month the City Council approved the DA for a supermarket in Erskineville, the development which had been the subject of a long campaign by residents concerned by the effect that a large supermarket would have on the small village shopping centre.

The argument in favour of the approval was a 60 per cent reduction on the previous DA, so it’s now a “small corner store”. Greens Councillor Chris Harris pointed out that the developer is predicting a massive $9 million profit so if the applicant claims it’s more of a small corner store than a supermarket it’s one heck of a small corner store! The $9 million profit would probably be at the expense of other shops on Erskineville Road. One of the Councillors who voted in favour said he walked up and down the shopping strip and spoke to people about the supermarket, couldn’t find one person in favour, but he was going to vote in favour. Perhaps the strongest argument those councillors made who voted in favour was the developer would appeal to The Land and Environment Court and would win.

However, the problem for Clover’s team is that local people are fuming and seem to feel let down. In a statement to the SSH, the Friends of Erskineville said: “At our community meeting on May 13, chaired by Councillor John McInerney and attended by Greens Councillor Irene Doutney and Independent Councillor Di Tornai, at the packed Erskineville Town Hall, Friends of Erskineville asked City of Sydney to undertake an independent assessment, forwarding this request to the Lord Mayor. In our 29-page submission to the City, we again requested Council to undertake this independent assessment. This supermarket will probably open within 12-18 months of the next election and the impact on the retail heart of Erskineville will start to be felt at around election time. Expect the Erskineville community to respond accordingly.” We will have a full report next month. 

At last we speak to a Labor Premier

Over the years the SSH has spoken to two Opposition Leaders including Barry O’Farrell  but never have we spoken to a Labor Party Premier – both Carr and Iemma chose not to make themselves available for an interview. Despite what some of our readers have said about this paper’s Labor party connections, Nick McCallum and Kelly Lane sat with the Premier and canvassed a wide range of issues. We invite your comments on the interview. 

Souths and those pokies – Why not a cinema instead?

Last month at the same council meeting where the Erskineville supermarket was approved, the DA for the Souths club house was discussed. ABC News Online reported: 

“Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore says the application was only approved on the condition that no poker machines would be sited in the club. She says that is because people from low-income families could gamble away their food money. ‘I'm really disappointed, council has expressed great alarm about this,’ she said. Greens Councillor Chris Harris says it is not a good idea to put a supermarket and poker machines together. ‘There's a lot of social problems in this area, a lot of issues with substance addiction, lots of people with mental health issues in the area,’ he said. ‘The last thing we need is for the people going to do their shopping and popping upstairs to the club to have a flutter on the pokies on the way home.’” However, one City councillor said to Fast News that the area may need a cinema more than pokies or even another supermarket. So if the club can’t have a supermarket and pokies it could have a cinema and pokies?

Thank you!

Last month I took part in a run from Milson’s Point to the Opera House. I got over half-way. I gave it a try. Thank you for all the encouragement and to those people who gave to our cause (the Pemuwuy housing project). You will find a full report on the sports page. I’ll do it again next year, and next time I’ll train!

Source: Extracted from the Fast News in www.southsydneyherald.com.au