Fighting for the village

Friends Of Erskineville was established in 2008 to fight the original proposal for a large, two-storey supermarket on the corner of Erskineville Road and Gowrie Street. Following the approval of a significantly smaller grocery store for the site in September last year, the group has expressed its disappointment with Council’s decision and says it will continue working to protect its village lifestyle and small community atmosphere.

Subsequent to the DA approval and a community forum held in November last year, FOE sent two letters to Council, both requesting meetings to address local issues including traffic, development control plans and community consultation. “The issue that we’ve got at the moment is that we haven’t had a response to either of those letters,” said Mr Howard. “To ignore a letter for two months is unforgivable in many ways. You wouldn’t do that in business, which just shows that they obviously don’t take the issues very seriously down here, which is very disappointing to be honest.”

Councillor John McInerney, however, confirmed there would be another public meeting held in February or March, to address any outstanding issues residents had about traffic. Penny Hardy, another FOE member, said the group would closely monitor traffic problems that might arise from the grocery store and ensure the community received responses from Council to its concerns.

“There are quite a number of sites around ... that are currently unoccupied,” she said. “So, if another development comes up, we really want to make sure that it’s going to be suitable, so that [Erskineville] doesn’t just become a raft of supermarkets or shopping malls or who knows what.”

Friends Of Erskineville argues that the suburb is already well serviced by supermarkets, with a Franklins and Foodworks in Newtown and a Woolworths approved for Fountain Street Alexandria.

However not all residents agree. Mother of three, Jo Sheils, said a new store would save her walking to King Street to buy groceries. “I think it would provide some competition for the strip,” she said. “The local shop is expensive and doesn’t have a great range.” Another resident, Belynda Reid, 26, said, “Unfortunately, there aren’t that many facilities in the area. It is going to change the community [but] I think time will tell.

Hopefully residents will maintain loyalty to the local businesses.”

A City of Sydney spokesperson said Council had previously refused a larger supermarket on the basis that it would draw a majority of its customers from outside the local area, leading to “unacceptable traffic and parking impacts”. The revised plan is for a store 60 per cent smaller than the refused proposal, with only 745 square metres of floor space and 16 parking spaces.

Mr Harold Scruby, Chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, said his organisation tended to be in favour of such operations. “Any supermarket which can attract customers without the need for car-dependency has our support,” Mr Scruby said. “We hope these developments will be encouraged, and over time, will need no parking facilities at all.”

Cr McInerney, who voted in favour of the DA, estimated that 80 per cent or more of customers would come from the local catchment area, with a majority choosing to walk or cycle there. “Erskineville is one of our most successful villages,” Cr McInerney said. “If we thought it was going to detract from that quality of Erskineville ... then we’d be very careful about protecting it. But we believe that this is actually going to strengthen the village.”

The developer Harold Finger was contacted but refused comment regarding the tenant of the supermarket and when construction would commence.

Source: South Sydney Herald March 2010 www.southsydneyherald.com.au