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06 June 2005
Protest in Support of Aboriginal Housing on the Block
REDWatch Produces Statement on “How to Plan for Redfern-Waterloo”
SMH Campaign for Sydney reveals possible Devastation for Redfern
Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (Infrastructure and other Planning Reform) Bill 2005
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Human Service Cluster Group Reports
“What’s with Domestic Violence?” - forum Thursday 16 June 2005 from 9.30 am – 2.00 pm
The Lawson Street Health Centre Debacle
Other Recent Redfern Waterloo Mentions in Parliament
Consultation on Redfern Health Facility – Clover’s eNews
Protest in Support of Aboriginal
Housing on the Block - Bridge Walk & Candle Light Vigil this Thursday 9th
June at 6.30pm
The Bridge Walk & Candle Light
Vigil this Thursday 9th June meets at 6.30pm in front of the RWA
offices and then moves off at 7pm to The Block is shaping up to be a major
protest action. The Government’s decision, gazetted last week, to take over the
planning controls for the Block has incensed not only Aboriginal people but many
people of good will within the wider community including churches, unions and
political parties. The Bridge walk, while only walking a short distance from the
RWA office to the Block across the Lawson Street Railway bridge, is aimed to
remind people of the hundreds of thousands of people who turned out around
Australia on bridge walks for Reconciliation 5 years ago. Originally it was
organised by Redfern Residents for Reconciliation with the backing of some of
the local Aboriginal and non Aboriginal churches to support the building of
Aboriginal Housing on the Block. The recent announcement that the main opponent
of the Pemulwuy project now has control over what is allowed to be built on the
Block, has widened support substantially.
The inclusion of the Block and
private property surrounding it in the initial RWA gazettal makes clear that the
RWA wants to re-develop this whole area and a sizable Aboriginal residential
population is not part of the Minister’s Plan. The last couple of hundred years
of Australian history has seen Aboriginal people being pushed off their land
because it has been wanted by the more powerful colonisers who thought they
could do “better” things with it than the original custodians. This is
resurfacing today in Redfern over the Block and it can not be allowed to happen
again. This time we can not hide behind our ancestors, if we let it happen we
ourselves are definitely responsible.
Please spread the word among your
friends about the March and Vigil and come along and show your opposition to
Frank’s move. The leaflet for the
protest can be downloaded from the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/links/candlevigil
RRR.doc. If you are a delegate to the ALP State Conference over the long weekend
please also support the move for the Government to support the Pemulwuy
Aboriginal Housing on the Block.
Spin from around the RWA at present
is that the Minister is not opposed to Aboriginal Housing on the Block and that
he has offered to build some. This refers to the Minister’s “take it or leave
it” offer to the AHC board a few months ago in which he offered to build the
same number of houses as currently exist on the Block in his broader unspecified
iconic development of the Block. The balance of the 62 units planned in the
Pemulwuy project is to be provided by the RWA away from the Block. Those
familiar with the Block will know that over a period of time most of the houses
on the Block have been removed so less than 20 remain. The Minister’s offer was
not about trying to put a viable Aboriginal housing project in place on the
Block it was about giving a bit of housing on the Block to try to get the AHC to
give up the Pemulwuy project’s 62 homes on the Block.
The Minister’s position seems to be
that Aboriginal housing on the Block will result in an area of high dependency
tenants even thought the Pemulwuy project has provisions to avoid this.
Ironically the Minister’s cut down housing numbers will increase the chance of
the high dependency tenants in the area that he fears. The Minister’s offer of
any Aboriginal housing on the Block was supposed to be the compromise offer
between the Pemulwuy project and the Minister’s preference for no housing. The
Minister wanted the AHC to work with the RWA to develop a predominantly
non-housing vision for the Block. The AHC Board rejected the Minister’s “take it
or leave it offer” but this does not appear to have totally killed off the small
housing component idea from within the RWA.
The statement by the AHC about the
Block being declared state significant can be found at http://www.redwatch.org.au/links/AHC
Press Release state significant.doc . The boundary of the area Gazetted as
“state significant” can be seen on the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/links/RWA
State Significance.pdf .
REDWatch has also written to all
state politicians letting them know that all the sites covered in the
Parliamentarian’s “See Redfern before Frank Sells It” Tour have been declared
State Significant (including the Court House) and hence move a step closer to
potentially being sold. We have also invited them to the Bridge walk. A copy of
this email http://www.redwatch.org.au/links/MP
Vigil Invite no map.doc & REDWatch Media statements can
be seen on the REDWatch website http://www.redwatch.org.au/press/REDWatch
Media State Sig 050530-2.doc http://www.redwatch.org.au/press/REDWatch
Media State Sig 050530.doc.
REDWatch Produces Statement on “How to Plan for Redfern-Waterloo”
The Redfern Waterloo Plan is to
provide the basis for the RWA’s ongoing work. REDWatch has released a statement
on “How to Plan for Redfern-Waterloo”. This document was developed by the
REDWatch Plan Working Group with the assistance of two planners and lots of
ordinary people. It has now been submitted to the Minister and the RWA CEO and
been posted on the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/links/REDWatch
Plan Statement 050531.pdf .
REDWatch is pushing for the RWA to
adopt an integrated planning framework and has made suggestions to the RWA about
how to implement it. REDWatch’s main concern with the Plan being rolled out in
stages is that only the items that are on the government’s priority list will be
addressed and that other issues of concern to the community may never be seen.
REDWatch is calling at least for a
“Plan in Outline” which provides a framework into which the stages of the Plan
can fit. The REDWatch document also includes some Q&A’s on the Plan, some
principles for community participation and some ground rules for developing the
Plan as well as a suggestion for how the “Plan in Outline” could be put
together. We hope that this Statement will be of assistance to people and
organisations in putting forward their views on what should happen in the
development of the Redfern Waterloo Plan. It may also be useful for others in
areas targeted for urban renewal under the Metro
Strategy.
SMH Campaign for Sydney reveals possible Devastation for Redfern
For those that only read the SMH on
the web you will have missed some interesting information in the SMH’s Campaign
for Sydney
series last week. The SMH concentrated on the CBD part of the story in “Railway
lifeline dead on arrival” at http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Railway-lifeline-dead-on-arrival/2005/05/30/1117305563788.html
about the long term MetroWest proposal. The article mentioned that the
“Government has not picked a specific route but the plans it does have could
seriously affect 44 buildings between Redfern and Town Hall. The article then
explored the problems with the line running in to city high rises. It was left
to a graphic on the CBD map, which was not on the web, to say “33 buildings
south of Cleveland
Street may need to be demolished” and “21 buildings
south of Cleveland
Street may need to be reinforced”. That’s an awful
lot of possibly affected buildings for the SMH not to cover in their story!!
Maybe it was because they were in Redfern rather than the CBD. Hopefully the RWA
is aware of the MetroWest plans but in case they too missed it we suggest they
ask for the plans as it sounds like it runs through their newly declared “state
significant” land.
Environmental Planning and
Assessment Act (Infrastructure and other Planning Reform) Bill
2005
This Bill encompasses the changes
being made by the Government to the “state significant” and planning provisions
to make development more streamlined. This Bill goes hand in hand with the SEPP
which recently defined the RWA’s initial “state significant” boundaries. A quick
overview of some of the changes in the legislation can be found in the SMH
article State's
largest projects to bypass green laws. These changes apply to the whole
state and will interact with the RWA Act and the Minister’s stated commitment
for community consultation in determining what ends up unfolding in Redfern
Waterloo. There is also now material up on the
DIPNR web site about the overall planning changes - http://www.dipnr.nsw.gov.au/planningreform.html
. The Bill can be seen at http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/NSWBills.nsf/0/1654915CCC0B8313CA25700B00357577
.
Public Private Partnerships
(PPPs)
When the Premier announced the
establishment of the RWA special mention was made that the RWA was going to use
Public Private Partnerships for the development. In its initial response to the
RWA announcement REDWatch called for mechanisms other than PPPs to be
investigated for funding the RWA developments. A couple of recent articles
provided some background on PPPs and how they work which we thought worthwhile
bringing to people’s attention. Following we have provided the links to a recent
Australian article www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,15404900,00.html
as well as to a recent ABC background briefing that looked at the operations of
Macquarie Bank http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s1376932.htm
.
As of July 1 the RWPP will be
absorbed completely by the RWA. The changes are well advanced. Michael Ramsey
the RWPP director for the last few years finishes with the RWPP on
6th June. We understand at least initially Aldo Pennini will be
taking on Michael’s role in addition to his other tasks. Samantha Nolan has also
left and her role is currently being taken over by Ross Bennett. We also hear that Indigenous Land
Corporation Board Member Norma Ingram is moving from the Premier’s Department to
the RWA. With the absorption of the RWPP into the RWA we have requested a list
of RWA staff and their areas of responsibility so the community knows who they
should be dealing with regarding specific issues of concern to them. We have
been assured that such a list will be available as soon as responsibilities of
the new staff are finalized. Also expected in the near future is a new well
maintained RWA website.
Human Service Cluster Group
Reports
We understand that the Cluster Group
reports have been finalized and we are advised that they should be posted soon
on the RWA / RWPP web site so everyone can see them and not just those involved
in a particular cluster. We were hoping they would be up by the time this email
went out to provide you with the links. We will let you know when they are up.
The human services plan is being put together before it is put out for community
consultation.
“What’s with Domestic Violence?” -
forum Thursday 16 June 2005 from 9.30 am – 2.00 pm
The Central Sydney Regional
Reference Group on Violence Against Women in conjunction with the Inner City
Domestic Violence Action Group is holding a forum: “Working together locally to
achieve best practice for victims of domestic violence”. The forum will be held
on Thursday 16 June 2005 from 9.30 am – 2.00 pm at Redfern Town Hall, 73 Pitt St, Redfern.
The program will include a presentation on the Domestic Violence Interagency
Guidelines, and also provide the opportunity to develop a strategy for working
together. A light lunch will be provided. Those interested in attending or
wanting further details should contact Matina Mottee Phone: 9745 8448 or Email:
matina.mottee@community.nsw.gov.au
by 9th June 2005.
Following the forum at Redfern Town hall at 1 pm there will be an art
exhibition by The Women’s Art Expression and Empowerment Group Exhibition of Art
with works exploring abuse and empowerment. There will be an auction of one of
the artworks following the opening.
The Lawson Street Health Centre Debacle
There have been a number of developments on this and you can get the latest news articles by visiting http://www.redalert.net.au/news. The Red Alert site also has information about a community meeting they are organising for 2pm on Saturday 18th June at Redfern Town Hall. Clover has also produced a response in her e-news (see bottom of this email) which advises that Council has requested a Social Impact Assessment Statement for the DA and will re-notify residents about the Development Application (DA) when the State Government has provided this information and consulted the community. Under the transitional measures associated with the declaration of the health centre as “state significant” any DA lodged prior to the date gazettal remains with council and new DAs come under the new arrangements.
The Rev Fred Nile has also put a question on the proposed Health Centre and elicited a bit of information from the Hon John Della Bosca Redfern Mobile Needle Syringe Service . “The reality of the situation is that the Redfern area remains at risk of the spread of infectious and blood-borne diseases. I am advised that the HIV rate in Redfern is twice the national average and Redfern also has the most hepatitis C notifications in the central Sydney area. While the number of needles distributed in the area has halved in the past 12 months, due in no small part to the good work of police, a large number of needles are still being distributed in Redfern.” Mr Della Bosca said.
From reading the statements from the Minister of Health on 20th May http://www.redalert.net.au/DocsGovt/050516_NSWHealthMinister.pdf and the statement from Mr Della Bosca, one gets the clear impression that there is no intention to change the location of the Centre, no matter what the “community consultation” turns up. This impression would be supported by the Government declaring it “state significant” and taking ultimate planning control away from City of Sydney Council. The Health Minister has said “It is anticipated the program will commence in the coming weeks, with all the key community stakeholders to be informed, including local residents, the Aboriginal Medical Service and the Aboriginal Housing Corporation”. Della Bosca in his statement added “Any amendments that need to be made to the development application following this consultation process will be done”. We think the word “informed” rather than “consulted” is a bit of a give away; as is the mention of amending the DA rather than the possibility of moving the centre.
According to Minister Iemma the consultation has been initiated by Minister Sartor who has "commissioned the Sydney South West Area Health Service to develop a community consultation program and timetable”. This at least means that Minister Sartor is in the position to ensure that a proper consultation takes place and he will have to live with the community backlash if all the options are not put on the table and a proper consultation process is not pursued.
Discussions continue with an occasional media mention. Last email we provided the link to Kristina Keneally’s comments in Parliament about the Oval. Clover Moore has responded in Parliament on the issues and to some of Ms Keneally’s comments and these responses can be found at Redfern Oval and Redfern Oval. In a recent development the Metropolitan Land Council has come out in support of the Indigenous Land Council’s proposal which from media reports seems to involve the ILC buying the oval from Council http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Aboriginal-group-wants-to-run-Redfern-Oval/2005/06/03/1117568381281.html. If the City of Sydney was to proceed down this path there would be community pressure to use the money gained to buy up a similar parcel of land in Redfern Waterloo so that the low level of public space, identified in council’s own report on the Oval, would not be further eroded. The next round of discussion by the Council Committee is scheduled for June 20.
Other Recent Redfern Waterloo Mentions in Parliament
Soon to be local Member for the Block, Andrew Refshauge has finally said something about Redfern, but only in passing when referring to Father Ted’s parish after rising in the house to speak on the death of Father Ted Kennedy. Brad Hazzard also spoke about the death of Father Ted mentioning twice the people of Redfern Death of Father Ted Kennedy.
Arthur Chesterfield Evans spoke fully about the Settlement in introducing amendments the Act that governs the area’s oldest neighbourhood centre Sydney University Settlement Corporation Bill
CONSULTATION ON REDFERN HEALTH FACILITY - CLOVER'S eNEWS - Friday 27 May 2005 - No. 248
The Minister for Health has agreed to my request to defer decisions on a proposed health facility in Lawson Street Redfern and to consult with the community before proceeding.
The Redfern-Waterloo Authority will now contract independent consultants to investigate different service options and locations. Council will re-notify residents about the Development Application (DA) when the Government has provided this information and consulted the community.
The City of Sydney has also requested a Social Impact Assessment Statement for the DA, with information about the expected number of patients, where they will come from and impacts on the surrounding area. Council has also asked for a Management Plan to identify and prevent impacts.
When I met with the Minister this week, he said that the existing REPIDU Outreach Van would continue providing clean syringes and responding to drug overdoses in this precinct until a decision is made about the health facility. Public health experts are concerned about the spread of diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV, and say that a needle exchange service is needed. The Minister said that fewer needles were distributed this year, and that clean syringes were still required.
Drug-related crime and drug use has dropped across NSW, and several local programs have helped. The Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT) program helped 100 young people get into drug treatment during its first year in Redfern. Bail conditions prevent people charged with drug offences returning to Redfern, drug users are being actively diverted at Redfern Railway Station, and strong police action against drug dealers and suppliers in Redfern and Waterloo has resulted in numerous arrests and charges.
Police, Redfern-Waterloo Street Team and youth services are working with young people to prevent them engaging in crime and anti-social behaviour. Council has provided active cleansing and is improving the local parks, and the Redfern Community Centre has a range of positive programs to engage local people.
