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25 September 2006

Council - Consultation absurdities / Lord Mayor Community Forum Darlington and Inner West - Monday 25th September 2006, 6.00pm to 8.30pm / Community Workshop - Chippendale Improvement Plan - 26 September 6.00-8.00pm / Waterloo Redfern Urban Design Study Information Session – 27 September 2006 5.00-8.00pm / Redfern East & West Local Area Traffic Management - Thursday 28 September 2006 6pm – 8pm / The Large Erecting Workshop – Conflicting views on the state of the building? / REDWatch Monthly Meeting – Heritage Focus – Wednesday 4th October 6pm / Mick Mundine’s Parliamentary Forum Reconciliation Speech / Waterloo – as others see us / Connect Redfern Contributions / Changes by 29th September 2006 / Have your say in current Consultations / - Draft Companion Animals Policy - until 27 September 2006 / - City’s Cycling Strategy on Exhibition - until 30th September 2006 / - Redfern Waterloo Design Study Consultation - until 5th October 2006. / Future Lord Mayor Community Forums

In This Update

Council - Consultation absurdities

Lord Mayor Community Forum Darlington and Inner West - Monday 25th September 2006, 6.00pm to 8.30pm

Community Workshop - Chippendale Improvement Plan - 26 September 6.00-8.00pm

Waterloo Redfern Urban Design Study Information Session – 27 September 2006 5.00-8.00pm

Redfern East & West Local Area Traffic Management - Thursday 28 September 2006 6pm – 8pm

The Large Erecting Workshop – Conflicting views on the state of the building?

REDWatch Monthly Meeting – Heritage Focus – Wednesday 4th October 6pm

Mick Mundine’s Parliamentary Forum Reconciliation Speech

Waterloo – as others see us

Connect Redfern Contributions / Changes by 29th September 2006

Have your say in current Consultations

- Draft Companion Animals Policy - until 27 September 2006

- City’s Cycling Strategy on Exhibition - until 30th September 2006

- Redfern Waterloo Design Study Consultation - until 5th October 2006.

Future Lord Mayor Community Forums

Coming Events (entered on the REDWatch website)

Council - Consultation absurdities

We have in the past praised the City Council about the way they have provided opportunities for consultation in decisions about Redfern Waterloo especially when compared to the way the RWA has gone about its community engagement. Recently however notice of council events and meetings has been getting shorter and shorter, so we have to say that Council consultation processes are no longer providing genuine opportunity for community involvement.

We are sure that had Council and Souths provided more notice to the community there would have been a much better turnout last weekend for the farewell to the old Souths’ football ground at Redfern Oval.

This week we were provided with very short notice of a number of local community consultations. This short notice gives us little time to get the information out to the community. It also gives those most likely to attend, those already involved in many community activities, little time to be able to rearrange other activities so they can participate.

Consultations for this week include:

Monday 25th - Lord Mayor’s Community Forum Darlington and Inner West

Tuesday 26th – Chippendale Improvement Plan

Wednesday 27th - Waterloo Redfern Urban Design Study Information Session

Thursday 28th - Community feedback on Redfern Local Area Traffic Management

Of these we were only aware of the Inner West Community Forum when we put out our update on 15th September. The Redfern Local Area Traffic Management Plan meeting we only picked up this morning from the council’s website. We especially question the wisdom of organising community meetings on consecutive nights at short notice as is the case this week for residents of Chippendale and Redfern!

Just organising a meeting is not enough; it has to be done in a way that allows those interested the opportunity to attend and participate.

Lord Mayor Community Forum Darlington and Inner West - Monday 25th September 2006, 6.00pm to 8.30pm

A Lord Mayor Community Forum for the Inner West covering Camperdown, Chippendale, Darlington, Erskineville, Eveleigh, Golden Grove, Newtown & Macdonaldtown is being held on Monday 25th September 2006, 6.00pm to 8.30pm at Brown Street Community Hall, 8-10 Brown St (rear of Newtown Library). For more information see Community Forum Invitation | PDF 1.1Mb or contact: Gail Marshall, Community Engagement Coordinator Tel: 02 9265 9218 Email: gmarshall@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Community Workshop - Chippendale Improvement Plan - 26 September 6.00-8.00pm

Chippendale residents will get a chance to talk with Council about an improvement Plan for their area at a Community Workshop on a Chippendale Improvement Plan on Tuesday 26 September 6.00-8.00pm in the Port Jackson Room, Carlton Crest Hotel, 169-179 Thomas St Sydney. For more information see Invitation | PDF 147Kb or contact: Andrew Legge, Project Manager, Tel: 02 9265 9333 Email: alegge@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Waterloo Redfern Urban Design Study Information Session – 27 September 2006 5.00-8.00pm

The City Council is holding an Information Session on the Redfern Waterloo Urban Design Study which is on exhibition until 5th October (see further details below). The Information Session is being held Wednesday 27 September 5.00-8.00pm at Redfern Town Hall, 73 Pitt Street Redfern. To obtain further information see Invitation | PDF 186Kb or contact: Nicholas Knezevic, Specialist Planner Tel: 02 9246 7769 Email: nknezevic@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Redfern East & West Local Area Traffic Management - Thursday 28 September 2006 6pm – 8pm

A public meeting will be held to discuss the Draft Redfern East & West Local Area Traffic Management proposal on Thursday 28 September 2006 6pm – 8pm at Redfern Town Hall, 73 Pitt Street Redfern. The meeting will discuss a draft proposal for traffic management in Redfern. This follows input received at the first community consultation sessions in July and August. City staff and traffic consultants have developed draft Local Area Traffic Management proposals. They will present the draft scheme and be available to listen to community views. The draft LATM proposal will also be available for viewing on the City of Sydney website and at Council venues. To obtain further information see Invitation | PDF 161Kb or contact: Joseph Gomes, Area Traffic Engineer, Tel: 02 9246 7588 Email: jgomes@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au.

The Large Erecting Workshop – Conflicting views on the state of the building?

Geoff [Turnbull] managed to get along to the National Trust History Week tour that included the Large Erecting Workshop. The “Large” is shown in the RWA BEP as both of Historical Significance and is zoned for an up to 12 storey building. Railcorp and the RWA say that the building is in bad repair and that it would take $12-15million to fix the building. As a result it is argued that it will be only possible to incorporate a bit of it into a new development rather than let it continue to operate for the 3801 or to adaptively reuse it as has been done at the ATP. We have recently discovered however that 3801 Ltd has had an independent assessment made of the building and it shows that the cost of doing the necessary works over the next 5 years would be around $3 million. This report was included in the 3801 submission to the RWA Draft BEP so it’s contents should be well known to both the RWA as well as Railcorp.

In the interest of transparency we have added a copy of the 3801 Ltd submission to the REDWatch website so everyone can see what work it says is required on the Large. We would be happy to also make publicly available any Railcorp report that might justify their $12-15 million. Condemning buildings by putting up the cost to fix them is a well tested way for developers to justifying demolition. Given the potential conflict of interests between the RWA as potential developer and RWA as heritage custodians we would like to see any such reports in the public domain so all figures are open to public scrutiny before any decision is made about the “Large”. Based on the 3801 Ltd figures it certainly looks like it is feasible for the Large to continue to provide a home for the 3801 provided Railcorp and the RWA were happy for this to happen. In their submission to the RWA 3801 Ltd argued that an ongoing presence by the 3801 at North Eveleigh would also help the RWA’s aims in the area.

REDWatch Monthly Meeting – Heritage Focus – Wednesday 4th October 6pm

REDWatch has its monthly meeting on 4nd October at the Factory Community Centre. We have invited Associate Professor Lucy Taksa Associate Dean (Education) from the Faculty of Commerce and Economics at the University of New South Wales. Lucy an expert on the Eveleigh workshops and can provide us with some background on the Eveleigh Rail site. There is a lot of interest in what is proposed on this site from those that used to work in the area as well as from those with an interest in railway and industrial heritage. This will be an opportunity for residents and those that work in the area to get some background on the site. REDWatch meetings are open to all who have an interest in Redfern Waterloo. The public meeting will be followed by a working group meeting at about 7pm to discuss REDWatch’s response to current issues. REDWatch meets downstairs at The Factory, 67 Raglan Street Waterloo.

Mick Mundine’s Parliamentary Forum Reconciliation Speech

The Speech by Michael Mundine Snr. To NSW Parliament House Reconciliation Forum 20th September 2006 was delivered to members of parliament and others attending the Reconciliation Forum held in the NSW Parliament Theatrette on 20th September 2006. This forum was organised by ReconciliACTION and focused on aboriginal housing issues in Dubbo and Redfern. In the speech Mick said: “We are asking for the same development rights as other land owners in Redfern. The Minister for Planning Frank Sartor has increased the development rights of all the land surrounding Redfern railway station. While at the same time reducing the residential development rights of Aboriginal owned land in the same area.” Mick goes on to say “Ask yourselves - if we were proposing new houses for non-Indigenous people would anyone in the NSW Government object?”

Waterloo – as others see us

We are grateful to Garry Mallard for bringing the US travel article There's Something About Sydney: Waterloo to our attention. The article focuses on Waterloo as one of Sydney’s cutting edge tourist neighbourhoods. In part the article reads:

“Waterloo's swift turn from light-industrial wasteland to buzzy arts district has happened so fast that the neighborhood isn't even listed in most guidebooks or on tourist maps. But it's only 20 minutes by taxi from the Central Business District (CBD), or a 15-minute walk south of Surry Hills.

"This is the new hip bohemian area," says Beatrix Van Dissel, a salesclerk at Salvage, a six-month-old store stocking antiques and intriguing objets d'art, such as a 1920s Argentinian glass candy dispenser.

A decade ago, however, Waterloo was nothing but warehouses and a few public-housing buildings. "There would've been no point to come before, unless you wanted to buy a washing machine or whatever," says Barry McDonald, whose Italian-style grocery Fratelli Fresh is an icon of Waterloo's growth spurt.

Waterloo of course still has a “few public housing buildings”. How to build a community in which the public tenants benefit from such changes, rather than be left in an increasing polarised community, is one of the biggest challenges facing the RWA with its plans for human services, employment and stage two of the Built Environment Plan.

Connect Redfern Contributions / Changes by 29th September 2006

Jo Fletcher is currently updating the Making Connections brochure for Term 4. If you have any information, events, programs and/or activities happening from October through to December please email Jo at connectredfern@yahoo.com.au the details to advertise in the brochure NO LATER THAN FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29. Also please email any changes/additions you want made to the current info in the brochure. The most recent Connect Redfern Brochures for those not familiar with this Redfern Waterloo human services resource for children and families resource can be seen on the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/redw/services/ along with links to other service databases.

Have your say in current Consultations

Below we have re-listed the various Plans and Consultations currently looking for community input:

- Draft Companion Animals Policy - until 27 September 2006

City of Sydney has prepared a draft Companion Animals Policy that aims to promote responsible pet ownership through community education, improved facilities, and equitable access to public parks for all residents.

The purpose of this policy is to:

  • promote harmony and equitable access to parks and gardens
  • promote the rights and responsibilities of animals and their owners in balance with the rights and responsibilities of others in the community
  • encourage and reinforce responsible animal ownership, particularly in relation to picking up waste and having control at all times
  • establish guidelines for identifying sufficient, suitable off-leash parks for dog exercise
  • promote companion animal ownership through education and information using sanctions as a last resort
  • educate non-pet owners and children on animal behaviour and how to interact with other people’s pets
  • educate general community about benefits of pet ownership, particularly in relation to physical and emotional health of pet owners.

It is estimated that companion animal ownership saves Australia about $2 billion a year in healthcare costs.

The documents are on public exhibition until 27 September 2006 and you are invited to comment on the draft Companion Animals Policy. Copies can be viewed at Council One Stop Shops and Neighbourhood Service Centres or downloaded from http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/OnExhibition/CompanionAnimalsDraftPolicy.asp 

- City’s Cycling Strategy on Exhibition - until 30th September 2006

The City's Draft Cycle Strategy, on public exhibition until 30 September, aims to achieve an effective and accessible cycle network, with major routes less than a five minute easy ride from every residence (no more than 1.5-2 kilometres). This coordinated network will be backed up by action on other local streets to improve cycling safety and convenience, and will complement the Roads and Traffic Authority's (RTA) regional routes and recreational routes, such as the Sydney Harbour Cycleway and Alexandra Canal.

The plan includes strategies for greater community awareness about the benefits of cycling, improved network maintenance, better bicycle route signage and new "end of trip" facilities, such as parking, storage, change and shower facilities. Developed with the help of bike groups including Bicycle NSW, BIKEast and BikeSydney, the strategy sets out the City's commitment over the next 10 years and builds on recent street upgrades and initiatives to encourage greater cycling participation. The Strategy sets a target of increasing current cycle rates from two percent of trips in Sydney to five per cent in 2011 and 10 per cent by 2016. Through these plans, the City hopes to reduce pollution and traffic congestion, decrease accidents, and improve the health of residents and visitors through increased physical activity.

The City's current capital works budget includes $1.25M to implement the Strategy, with a further $750,000 each year for the next three years. Additional funding will also be provided for cycling facilities through the City's street upgrade programs. Full implementation of the strategy depends on the RTA completing regional cycle routes, and the City will be working cooperatively with the State Government to achieve the effective network envisaged by the plan. Full details of the Draft Cycle Strategy and maps of the Cycleways can be found at http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/OnExhibition/DraftCycleStrategy.asp.

As we mentioned a couple of RWIUs ago some Chippendale residents and business owners have developed a proposal for a green pedestrian and cycle route through Chippendale for some time. If you missed that article also have a look at the The Parkway + the City’s draft cycle strategy which might be worth a mention in your submission.

- Redfern Waterloo Design Study Consultation - until 5th October 2006.

The final stage of the City of Sydney’s urban design study has now commenced. A draft report is now available for inspection and public comment. This report incorporates the information presented in the first and second community meetings, the public comments received from the meetings and proposed controls and guidelines for the City of Sydney’s new City Plan. The report can be downloaded in parts from the City of Sydney website at Waterloo and Redfern Draft Urban Design Report or can be inspected locally at the Redfern Service Centre or the Waterloo library.

The report shows existing controls, actual heights and FSRs, as well as the proposed new controls for all of Redfern Waterloo east of the railway line. It also looks at trying to define and maintain the uniqueness of different parts of Redfern Waterloo.

Of particular interest in the lead up to Stage Two of the RWA Built Environment Plan, is that the draft report also covers Department of Housing land. It uses land around the Matavai and Turanga tower blocks to show how increased housing densities could be achieved on some DoH land (page 106-7). With Phase 2 of the RWA’s BEP Plan looking at exactly this issue the Draft Urban Design Report provides some useful information for the community as well as the RWA.

The Draft Urban Design Report for the study is on public exhibition for viewing and comment until 5 October 2006.

Future Lord Mayor Community Forums

Inner South: Redfern, Waterloo, Eveleigh - Monday 30 October 6 - 8.30pm Venue: Redfern Town Hall, 73 Pitt Street, Redfern.