Draft Waterloo South People and Place Plan | For feedback until 31 May 2024
Forgot your password?
02 September 2005
RWA Issues First Newsletter / Update
The Battle over the Block moves up a gear
There is also information about important coming events:
Draft Plan of Management for Centennial Parklands on Exhibition & Information Day 4th September 2005Draft Plan of Management for Prince Alfred Park Exhibition and Information Night 13th September 2005
City of Sydney Forum – 6pm 15th September Redfern Town Hall
History Tours of Redfern 10.30 am Tuesday 20th September & Sunday 25th September
RWA Issues First Newsletter /
Update
The RWA today distributed the first issue of Redfern-Waterloo Update (not to be confused with Redfern Waterloo Issues Update which you are currently reading). The RWA’s Update dated August 2005 can be downloaded from the REDWatch website (155Kb) at http://www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/statements/2005/RedfernWaterloonewsletter_final.pdf . REDWatch have also posted a text version so the contents will be searchable on their site along with earlier media statements and circulars.
The RWA’s Update lists the precincts the RWA has defined within the areas of state significance in Redfern Waterloo. So you can easily check where the precincts are located, REDWatch has posted the latest RWA map (337 Kb) on their website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/maps/State Significant Areas.jpg . The RWA Update states that Stage One of the Redfern Waterloo Plan will cover the first 3 years and it will support the “the development of a consolidated, coherent and consistent planning instrument to guide urban renewal on key strategic sites”.
The RWA Update advises that the Minister has approved appointments to the Ministerial Advisory Committees and that each committee will have 6-8 community representatives of which at least two are Indigenous people. The advisory committees will also include representatives of the State, Commonwealth and local Governments. More than 100 expressions of interest were received.
There is still no indication when the Minister will hold the first of the four public meetings a year “to provide the Minister with advice on the broad strategic direction of the Redfern-Waterloo Plan” and provide “the community with a direct link to the Minister” which were promised in the last leaflet distributed by the RWA in April. In that leaflet they advised “Upcoming meetings and events will be advised to residents in our inaugural newsletter and website (still under construction). A Community Forum to meet at least four times a year will be open for members of the public to attend.” [And yes the website is still under construction].
The Battle over the Block moves up a gear
There are two things which are very obvious from the RWA’s Update. Firstly, in the form of an Open letter from Frank Sartor to Mick Mundine at the Aboriginal Housing Company on the front cover of the RWA Update, the RWA has chosen to publicise to the community its assertions that putting the 62 houses on the Block will fail. Secondly other than two articles about the RW Plan and the Advisory Committees all the other articles in the Update are about how the RWA is working with the Aboriginal community. The subtext seems to be that the AHC is only holding out because of “consultants and nay-sayers” while the rest of the Aboriginal community is happy to work with the RWA.
So Mick Mundine is painted as unreasonable because he will not give up the AHC’s commitment to build the 62 units of Pemulwuy housing on The Block so he can join the Minister’s proposed taskforce to come up with “a shared vision for the Block”. But somehow the Minister’s insistence on the precondition that the Pemulwuy project can not be part of the discussion is supposed to be reasonable!
The Minister keeps talking about only replacing the existing 19 houses on the Block and stating that any request for more is unreasonable, while conveniently disregarding the fact that the now “vacant” Block was once full of houses for Aboriginal families and had a community that functioned. The Minister also seems to keep ignoring the fact that the Pemulwuy project is for mixed housing with only about a third of tenants fitting the high dependency category which is of concern to the Minister – about the same number of “high dependency” houses he is prepared to supply for on The Block!
Everyone should be clear that the AHC did not join the Minister’s proposed Taskforce for the Block because the Minister’s precondition for talking about the Block was that The Pemulwuy Project could not be included in discussions. Anyone who has read the Southside News article “Land and Secrets on The Block” http://www.redwatch.org.au/media/050715b/view , which is about the Taskforce proposed last year by the Government to take control of the Block from the AHC, would have to be more than a little suspicious of the Taskforce proposed by the Minister. It is not surprising Mick Mundine has not rushed in to the Minister’s Taskforce.
There has been a lot more happening behind the scenes that indicates that the RWA is upping the pressure on the AHC. Last Friday the RWA wrote to the AHC asking for a copy of their Master Plan as the RWA wanted to bring itself up to date about the AHC’s vision for The Block. The AHC saw this as a constructive move – the RWA was prepared to look at something with the Pemulwuy Project in it. Then on Monday the SMH came out with the article “Sartor refuses to budge on the block” http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sartor-refuses-to-budge-on-the-block/2005/08/28/1125167552296.html . In this article Minister Sartor reaffirmed there would be no Pemulwuy Project and that he would use his planning powers and the Redfern Waterloo Plan to ensure it did not happen. The brick wall between the Minister and the AHC became a wall of steel. On Wednesday the RWA CEO met with the Mick Mundine for full and frank discussions following up the RWA’s letter and the Minister’s comments. The AHC was prepared to talk about the greater Block with the RWA, provided it was clear they were not giving up their plans to pursue funding for the Pemulwuy project with parties other than the NSW Government. Then on Thursday Mick Mundine saw the RWA Update with the open letter from the Minister to him for the first time. The Minister had not even done the courtesy of sending the AHC CEO a copy of the letter or telling him he planned to circulate it to all the residents of Redfern Waterloo. The RWA’s letter last Friday had not mentioned that they were putting out such a letter, even though the copy for the update would have been finalized by then to allow time for printing. Neither was it mentioned in the meeting with Robert Domm.
With games like these, people should not be surprised that the AHC does not trust the Minister and what might come out of his invitation to “Let’s work together to find a shared vision for the Block”.
In other news the South Sydney Herald reports broadcaster and ex South Sydney coach Alan Jones has visited the AHC and thrown his support behind the project http://www.redwatch.org.au/media/050901ssh . The South Sydney Herald has also published an articles entitled “What is the Pemulwuy Project?” which can be viewed at http://www.redwatch.org.au/media/050901sshb .
While both the City of Sydney and the RWA are supporters of this year’s Koori Knockout which will be held at Redfern Oval for a second year, there seems to be little else they agree on about Redfern Oval. The RWA’s recent update revealed that Minister Sartor was urging the City of Sydney to seriously consider the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) buying or leasing Redfern Oval from the City of Sydney.
A media statement from the Lord Mayor in mid August announcing Council support for the Koori Knockout said the Lord Mayor looked “forward to the day that the event will be celebrated at a new and better Redfern Oval, following the City's planned $19 million upgrade. The proposed upgrade will be for the whole community and include a new playing field constructed on the existing oval site, along with an undercover pavilion. It would be for use by junior clubs and schools sports competitions, training and occasional games for the South Sydney Rugby League Football Club, annual Koori Cup Knockout, community activities and general informal recreation.” Despite this statement Council consideration of the future of Redfern Oval has once again been deferred.
A SMH article on August 26th 2005 “Moroney promotes 15 to key posts” advised that Redfern LAC would get a new commander in the latest round of appointments. According to the article “Catherine Burn, previously in charge at Burwood, becomes the first woman to run the challenging Redfern local area command, a position vacated by Dennis Smith, who is on stress leave.” http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/moroney-promotes-15-to-key-posts/2005/08/25/1124562981247.html
In a flow on from the way police handled the civil unrest in Macquarie Fields in south-western Sydney and Redfern in the inner city, NSW Police is to set up a full-time police riot squad. Police Commissioner Ken Moroney says a 45-member squad is to be formed to respond to major outbreaks of violence http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1451268.htm . The Police Association called for a riot squad following the Redfern civil unrest.
Draft Plan of Management for Centennial Parklands on Exhibition & Information Day 4th September 2005
The draft Plan of Management for Centennial Parklands is being updated and public comment is now invited on the draft Plan which is on public exhibition from Monday 29 August 2005. Submissions will be accepted until the end of the exhibition period on Wednesday 28 September 2005. The Plan of Management is the principal document guiding the planning and management of all the land owned by the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust. These lands include Centennial Park, Moore Park, Queens Park, the York Road bushland remnant and the former Moore Park Showground.
A public information day will be held from 12.00 pm - 3.00 pm on Sunday 4 September 2005 near the Shelter Pavilion in Parkes Drive, Centennial Park. During the exhibition period, the draft Plan can also be viewed on line at www.cpplanofmanagement.com.au or at a number of other locations including the City of Sydney Neighbourhood Service centre at Redfern. For more information please visit the project website or contact the project manager on: Phone: 9339 6651 Email: pom@cp.nsw.gov.au .
The Plan of Management provides direction for other plans such as the Moore Park Master Plan, which will be on exhibition in coming months. For more information on the Moore Park Master Plan, please visit the project website at www.mpmp.com.au or contact the project manager on 9339 6662.
Making the links between PNG land rights and Australian land rights struggles Thursday 8th September 2005
Dr Tim Anderson from Sydney University and Michael Penrith an Indigenous Activist will speak on Making the links between PNG land rights and Australian land rights struggles at the Redfern Community Centre, 29-53 Hugo St, Redfern on Thursday 8th September 2005 between 12pm - 2pm (lunch provided) http://www.aidwatch.org.au/assets/aw00797/PNG%20A4%20AllEvents.pdf
Draft Plan of Management for Prince Alfred Park Exhibition and Information Night 13th September 2005
A Draft Plan of Management and Master Plan is currently on public exhibition until 5.00pm on 30 September 2005. You are invited to a community information night on the plan, 6.30 to 8.30pm Tuesday 13 September 2005, Redfern Town Hall, 73 Pitt Street, Redfern. Submissions to Prince Alfred Park Draft Exhibition, City of Sydney, GPO Box 1591, Sydney NSW 2001, or email:
princealfredpark@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au . For further information contact Laurie Johnson, phone 9246 7579, email ljohnson@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au . The Draft Plan of Management can be downloaded from the CoS website at http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/OnExhibition/DraftPrinceAlfredManagementPlan.asp .
City of Sydney Forum – 6pm 15th September Redfern Town Hall
A reminder that the City of Sydney Community Forum for Redfern Waterloo and Darlington residents is being held at 6pm on Thursday 15 September, Redfern Town Hall. The new structure provides an hour from 6.00pm for you to talk directly with Clover, Councillors, the CEO and Council staff about specific issues. The second part, from 7.00pm is a formal meeting including presentations.
Redfern Street Upgrade is sure to be on the agenda. When REDWatch met with City of Sydney CEO a couple of weeks ago they were assured that the Redfern Street Upgrade is at the top of the list for new street works and should start in early 2006. The new CEO is keen to ensure that the upgrade takes place quickly so there is the minimum disruption possible to Redfern St shops.
History Tours of Redfern 10.30 am Tuesday 20th September & Sunday 25th September
One of the leading Heritage consultants, Godden Mackay Logan is based at 78 George Street Redfern. During History week they are offering two heritage tours of Redfern leaving from their offices. The walks will take just over an hour and will cover the boundaries of the original 100 acre estate granted to William Redfern in 1817. The walks which will be limited to 15 people will cost $5 a head and will be lead by historian Mark Dunn. Bookings can be made by phoning 9319 4811 or email markd@gml.com.au . Our thanks to the South Sydney Herald for this information.
TfNSW proposal to reverse Little Eveleigh Street - until Sept 10th 2023
