12 July 2006

In This Update 

ILC Plans for Redfern School Unveiled

RWA Employment and Enterprise Plan Document Comparison

New ATP Newsletter focuses on Chanel 7 Announcement

RWA DA Determinations and Exhibitions

Planning a better future - Creating a State Plan for NSW

City of Sydney Update on CUB Site

Redfern Waterloo Safety Newsletter

Draft Discussion Paper: Night Trading Premises

Latest Edition of RedWater News

Commonwealth Volunteer Small Equipment Grants - 2006

Coming Events (entered on the REDWatch website)

ILC Plans for Redfern School Unveiled

The Australian and NSW Governments announced that the Australian Government’s Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) would proceed to purchase the former Redfern Public School site for the National Indigenous Development Centre (NIDC). The ILC will purchase the site from the NSW Department of Education and Training for $14.8 million and expect to take over the site in August or September 2006. The redevelopment of the site with some private sector involvement is expected to commence early in 2007 and is due for completion after about 18 months in 2009 at cost of $34-38 million. It is expected that programmes will cater for around 5,000 people a year when fully operational. For more in formation on the ILC see What is the ILC? (PDF 1.2 MB) or for other ILC documents visit http://www.ilc.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=34 .

Initial plans for the National Indigenous Development Centre (NIDC) were unveiled by NSW Minister for Redfern Waterloo Frank Sartor and ILC Chairperson Shirley McPherson. Minister Sartor said "The best way to improve the circumstances of Indigenous families in Redfern and Waterloo is by supporting a range of opportunities in education and employment. This new Centre will help young people from this area and other communities achieve their full potential through mentoring, training and learning initiatives.”

The plans on display included a Rugby / Soccer training field on the western part of the site with parking below. The existing Murawina Child Care Centre and four school buildings (including two heritage-listed buildings) will be refurbished. The main new building development is proposed for the northern part of the site and the Centre will provide much needed accommodation and training facilities for peak Indigenous sports development organisations as well as a new 25 metre heated swimming pool.. The redevelopment includes construction of new multi-use classrooms and accommodation and dining facilities for up to 100 people. Photo’s of the plans and media material available at the media conference can be downloaded from the REDWatch website at Birds Eye View from West (174 KB JPG), Courtyard View (174 KB JPG), Plan of Redfern School Site Proposal (150 KB JPG). The Text from ILC Redfern School Display is also available on the REDWatch website as are the Minister’s Media Release Indigenous Youth Centre for Redfern and the ILC Media Backgrounder.

The NIDC will accommodate a number of established programs, including:

• NATIONAL ABORIGINAL SPORTS CORPORATION AUSTRALIA (NASCA), which runs a number of sporting and life development programs for Indigenous people encouraging healthy lifestyles through sport and education. Once established, NASCA predict future numbers of participants at the Centre to be in the order of 200 non-residential and 30 residential per month. The programmes covers: athletes as role models, golf, rugby league, netball and basketball. Indigenous athletes involved with NASCA on all levels, from being out in the communities running programs through to NASCA Board membership are Dean Widders (Parramatta Eels), Kyle Vander Kuyp (Olympic hurdler) and Michael O'Loughlin (Sydney Swans).
• LLOYD MCDERMOTT RUGBY DEVELOPMENT TEAM, which provides opportunity for Indigenous youth to become involved in rugby union. The Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team expects to bring over 500 Indigenous youths to Sydney each year.  The Team will utilise the accommodation and training facilities on site all year round. Since 1995, the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team has been heavily involved with the youth of Redfern/Waterloo and the Alexandria Park Community High School.
• EXODUS FOUNDATION TUTORIAL CENTRE, The Exodus Foundation Tutorial Centre will run literacy programs / tutorial centre for 60 Indigenous students aged between 10 and 14 from the Centre's specially designed classrooms (see Bill Crews - A NEW DEAL FOR REDFERN).
• MURAWINA CHILD CARE CENTRE Aboriginal owned and managed Murawina Child Care Centre will continue to operate from the site providing affordable day care for up to 69 Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.

Minister Sartor indicated that the RWA and ILC were keen for the PCYC to shift into the new complex and the plans on display had the PCYC as a major element of the development however there was no information about this possibility included in the media kit. The PCYC has also been offered a 50 year lease by the Department of Housing on their existing site so discussions about the future location of PCYC are continuing.

The ILC says it will take their initial plans for the school site out to the Redfern Waterloo Aboriginal community in the near future for discussion. There has been concerns in the local Aboriginal community that the ILC has not been talking to the local community and local services have been in the dark about what is being planned and how it will service their community. The ILC seemed aware of this concern and the need to respond to it in the near future.

In keeping with good news from Redfern Waterloo having a hard time getting coverage the only major coverage showing up from the media conference was the ABC’s Redfern to house youth centre. The media coverage did not show up the information of interest to local residents and services about the announcement. The only reason we can provide you with the information in this update is that we were tipped off to the media conference and Geoff just turned up. We live in hope that one day the RWA and the Minister’s office will recognise that these email updates perform a valuable service to many with an interest in Redfern Waterloo and that they will invite us to such announcements.

RWA Employment and Enterprise Plan Document Comparison

We have now completed a text comparison between the Draft and the Final version of the Redfern-Waterloo Employment and Enterprise Plan dated 16 May 2006. This comparison is to assist people familiar with the Draft plan to easily identify changes made in the final document and to see if any concerns they raised in the consultation have been adopted in the final Plan. The word document (144 KB) can be downloaded from http://www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/employment/eepcompare/download.

The comparison shows changes in red. A red strikethrough indicates a deletion and a red text indicates the changed text in the final document. Blue strike out indicates a deletion without a change. Green underlined indicates new text which does not appear to result from a change of what was in the draft. This comparison has been made using a document comparison program and while the results have then been edited to remove obvious incorrect comparisons (such as where the same words have been shown as being both deleted and inserted) we can not guarantee it is 100% correct. This document is provided as a guide only and the reader should make their own comparison of the Draft Redfern-Waterloo Employment and Enterprise Plan and the Final Report to be certain of document differences.

New ATP Newsletter focuses on Chanel 7 Announcement

The ATP has put out a special newsletter concerning the Sydney Broadcast Property announcement that a 1.4 hectare site at the ATP valued at $13.1 million will be leased to Sydney Broadcast Services for 88 years. The PDF (636 KB) can be downloaded from http://www.atp.com.au/uploads/documents/Special%20Edition%20Newsletter.pdf

RWA DA Determinations and Exhibitions

The RWA has posted the determination for DA 006-04-06 (1.27MB) for the new training centre at 255 Wilson Street, Darlington (North Eveleigh). The approval covers the Minor internal and external alterations and additions to the former Canteen & Carpenters building and change use into a ‘Community Facility’ comprising a catering and cooking training facility with ancillary cafe on the upper level; and a training centre for the construction industry on the lower level with ancillary office space. The proposal includes car parking for twenty-two (22) vehicles which includes a loading bay and one (1) disabled parking space. Full details of all RWA determinations to date can be viewed at http://www.redfernwaterloo.nsw.gov.au/development_applications/notices_of_determination.htm .

A new DA has been lodged for 64 Regent Street Redfern to change use and fit out of existing shop to Chinese restaurant and takeaway shop. The details of DA 008-06-06 can be seen at http://www.redfernwaterloo.nsw.gov.au/development_applications/development_proposals_on_exhibition.htm  or viewed at the Neighbourhood Service Centre Redfern, Ground Level, Tower 2, 1 Lawson Square, Redfern.

Planning a better future - Creating a State Plan for NSW

The NSW Government recently announced a State Plan will be developed over the next three months http://www.nsw.gov.au/stateplan/index.aspx?page=0 . They argued that this will provide the time for the public service to develop a detailed, evidence based plan and the time for extensive consultation with communities. Having gone through the Metro strategy process to try and plan just for Sydney’s future and the development of the RWA’s various plans this timeframe seems very optimistic. We welcome the idea of a State plan even if the timeframe and the coming election makes us suspicious that this might not be a serious attempt to develop a long term robust State Plan. The process has a community input mechanism so on the basis that in the lead up to an election is the best time to make your ideas known we encourage your participation. The three steps in the announced process are:

Step 1: Building the Draft Plan

During July the NSW Public Service will work together to develop innovative ways to tackle the challenges facing the State. They will prepare a draft plan that will suggest HOW the Premier's New Directions can be delivered and how progress can be measured and reported. This will be a co-ordinated, cross government plan. An important element of the plan will be proposals to reform government processes to ensure that the State Plan goals are completely integrated with the NSW Government Budget and Cabinet processes.

Step 2: Consulting the Community

We will then seek the community's view on the draft plan. Over 30 public and stakeholder meetings will be held in all regions of NSW during August and September. These meetings will include community leaders, experts, and importantly - regular people. The aim of these meetings is to get community views on what is most important within the draft Plan - and importantly how we can work better together to deliver the objectives contained in the Plan. In addition, people will have a chance to let us know their views through this website.

Step 3: Finalising the Plan

The NSW Government will consider all of the views collected during the community consultation process. By the beginning of October we will have a finalised State Plan. This Plan will drive budgeting and policy setting for the Government.       

How can I get involved?

You can tell us what you think about the Premier's New Directions for NSW by completing the website questionnaire. More opportunities to be involved will be available as the process continues.

City of Sydney Update on CUB Site

The City of Sydney has issued An important update on the CUB site - July 2006 (PDF 254Kb) which provides the City’s response to Minister Sartor’s decision to declare the site state significant and remove planning control from the Central Sydney Planning Committee. In the update Lord mayor Clover Moore urges those concerned about the issue to write to the Premier and Minister to express your support for open planning processes and draft controls formulated through consultation, research and professional advice.

Redfern Waterloo Safety Newsletter

The Creating a Safer Community Project is investigating, designing and implementing strategies in response to the community safety needs of residents living in Redfern, Eveleigh, Waterloo and Darlington. The project has identified that residents feel isolated, uninformed about current safety initiatives in the area, and frustrated by the lack of coordination and integration between service providers. In order to coordinate and publicise community safety initiatives, whilst simultaneously informing residents of steps that can be taken to strengthen their community safety, this bi-monthly community safety newsletter will distributed to all residents and service providers in Redfern, Waterloo, Eveleigh and Darlington. The newsletter includes: the announcement of community safety programs and initiatives, safety phone numbers, safety tips etc. The Newsletter provides details of community and safety events in the area. The latest newsletter can be downloaded here - July 2006 Safety Newsletter (PDF 1.5Mb).

Draft Discussion Paper: Night Trading Premises

A Draft Development Control Plan for Night Trading Premises is currently being prepared by the City of Sydney’s City Plan Development Unit and as part of this process a Draft Discussion Paper on Night Trading Premises is available for public comment for a period of two months. The purpose of the paper is to encourage discussion about night trading as it applies to the City of Sydney and to seek community and stakeholder feedback on how the City can address the impacts of night trading premises, particularly those premises that provide for the consumption of alcohol.

The discussion paper outlines some of the main issues of night trading and highlights a number of strategies that are being implemented and developed to address the impacts of night trading premises. The paper also raises a number of questions to be considered in the preparation of a development control plan (DCP) and suggests a possible DCP framework. In 2003 the former South Sydney Council exhibited a Draft DCP on Late Trading Premises and this is included as an appendix to the discussion paper for illustrative purposes only.

Submissions received during the public comment period will be considered in the preparation of a city-wide DCP and further consultation will be undertaken in coming months in the form of a stakeholder workshop and focus group sessions. Further information and a copy of the discussion paper are available for download from the City’s website at Night Trading Premises: Draft Discussion Paper. Submissions will be received until 6 September 2006.

Latest Edition of RedWater News

The July edition of Redwater News, the Redfern and Waterloo Neighbourhood Advisory Boards Newsletter, is out and downloadable from the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/redw/localmedia/redwaternews/0607/download (PDF 237 KB). This issue includes the following: Department of Housing Access, Allocation and Tenure Policy Proposal / Alternatives to high cost credit, What has HCAP been up to?, Revenge on the Telemarketer, We want your voice !, Redfern Computer Centre has a New Home, Alexandria Park Community School Information Morning, South Sydney Community Aid has found a new home, News from the Waterloo Recycling Workshop, Local Playgroups, around the precincts of redfern, The South Sydney Aboriginal Resource Corporation has relocated to PCYC, The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Basketball Association is looking for expressions of interest to enter teams into the: 1st Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NATIONAL Basketball Championships, around the precincts of waterloo, A Few Basic Figures on Waterloo - Redfern Public Housing and community noticeboard.

Commonwealth Volunteer Small Equipment Grants - 2006

On 9 June 2006, the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Hon Mal Brough MP announced funding of $3 million for the 2006 Volunteer Small Equipment Grants (VSEG) to help Australia's volunteers support their vital work. This funding will provide grants of up to $3,000 (GST inclusive) for community organisations to help them purchase small equipment items that will make the work of their volunteers easier, safer and/or, more enjoyable. More information on the grants can be found at http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/aboutfacs/programs/sfsc-vseg_2006.htm.