10 November 2006

In This Update

CUB Site Meeting – Saturday 11^th November at 4pm (to 5:30pm) at the Mercure Hotel

Planning Protest Rally – 12 midday Tuesday 14^th November 2006

Draft RWA Contributions Plan – Exhibition until 8th December 2006

RWA’s Proposed Public Works

Commonwealth State Agreement on Redfern-Waterloo

Human Services Plan Phase 2 Submission Fatigue

New Alcohol Free Zone Proposal for the Block – until 22^nd December

No Decision yet on the Large and 3801

Keep Up to Date with the REDWatch Website

Good Neighbour BBQs

Corrections and Apologies

Have your say – Consultations mentioned previously:

- Railz Hotel applies to RWA for 24 hour Licence – Exhibition until 15^th November 2006.

- CUB Development on Public Exhibition - until Monday 27th November 2006

- Redfern Waterloo Local Action Plan – Until Tuesday 28^th November 2006.

- Heritage Streetscapes Study – 1^st December 2006

Coming Events (look at the new local events entered on the REDWatch website that are not covered here)

CUB Site Meeting – Saturday 11^th November at 4pm (to 5:30pm) at the Mercure Hotel

The City of Sydney has organised this public meeting to discuss the Concept Plan for the Carlton United Brewery Site which was lodged with the NSW Department of Planning by the site owner and which is currently on exhibition for public comment. The website for the CUB site www.cubproject.com.au has many documents on exhibition but it is difficult for those around the site to get a real idea of the impact and issues raised by the proposal. This public meeting will help people understand what is proposed so their concerns can be raised during the exhibition. Further details of the meeting can be found on the REDWatch website PUBLIC MEETING ON CUB CONCEPT PLAN - 11 November 2006 from Clover’s eNEWS and CUB SITE - PUBLIC MEETING - THIS SATURDAY 4PM - MERCURE HOTEL from the Coalition Chippendale Community Groups. An extract from the community groups notice says:

Did you know Fosters Plans propose: 

• Parking for more than 2,300 vehicles  
• 8,000 workers/residents and hundreds of students – more than tripling our population
• Twin skyscrapers up to 120 metres high (40 floors)
• Massive towers banked back into Chippendale
• Large scale overshadowing including much of the “park”
• The demolition of the “Sunburst” building
• Tens of millions of dollars earmarked for the Government
  

The meeting will be held in the Central Room, Mercure Hotel, 818-820 George Street Sydney, (near the bus interchange).

Planning Protest Rally – 12 midday Tuesday 14^th November 2006

A protest rally has been arranged by many residents groups from around Sydney and NSW at NSW Parliament House to protest against the planning disasters that the Iemma Govt is imposing on local communities. Speakers will include the AHC CEO Michael Mundine, the Greens Sylvia Hale and the Liberals Peter Debnam. So if you are not happy about how your community is being treated by the new planning laws or Minister Sartor then turn up at Hyde Park or NSW Parliament on Tuesday and add your voice to the protest. Groups are meeting in Hyde Park at 12 midday and then marching to Parliament House. For further information contact Colleen on 0418 482 534 or Angela on 0418 112 132 or talk to Peter Valilis or Michael Mundine at the AHC.

Draft RWA Contributions Plan – Exhibition until 8th December 2006

Under the Redfern-Waterloo Authority Act the Minister for Redfern-Waterloo has prepared a Contributions Plan for the levying of development contributions for the provision of public facilities and amenities within the RWA’s Operational Area. The Draft RWA Contributions Plan 2006 (pdf ~1.61mb) draft when finalised by the Minister will replace the existing South Sydney Section 94 Contributions Plan.

The draft RWA Contributions Plan:

• identifies the percentage of the development levy (2% is proposed), what development it applies to and how the amount is payable;
• details the expected development and demand for public facilities in the Operational Area; and
• identifies the public facilities and amenities to be funded from contributions collected from the draft Plan.
  

The Minister for Redfern-Waterloo will consider all public submissions concerning the draft Contributions Plan in finalising the Contributions Plan. The draft RWA Contributions Plan is on public exhibition until 8 December 2006 at the Redfern Neighbourhood Service Centre, Ground Floor, Tower 21 Lawson Square, Redfern. Submissions can be posted to the RWA or sent by email redfernwaterloo@rwa.nsw.gov.au .Your email should be titled ‘Draft RWA Contributions Plan’.

RWA’s Proposed Public Works

The RWA’s Draft Contributions Plan (see item above) sets out the Public Works the RWA proposes to undertake with the proposed 2% levy on developments in the RWA State Significant area. We have posted the list of RWA Proposed Public Works as well as the RWA Draft Proposed Public Works Map (PDF 356Kb) on the REDWatch website. The RWA say that the Stage One of their Built Environment Plan will increase the number of residents in the area by 3,200 and increase the number of jobs by 18,000. They have proposed $36.7 million of planned works paid for by developer levies.

$19.9 million has been proposed for “Road, Public Transport and Access Infrastructure”, of this  $15 million has been earmarked for “Traffic management on Gibbons Street to improve pedestrian safety and amenity along street and improve traffic circulation”.  We have checked this with the RWA and this refers to Page 40 of the RWA’s Built Environment Plan which makes reference to the RWA exploring an underpass option on Gibbons Street. The best way of achieving a separation between pedestrian and vehicle movements however is still being explored by the RWA so a final proposal for Gibbons Street has not been formulated. A further $2.5 million has been earmarked for the pedestrian and cycle bridge between the ATP and North Eveleigh with the balance $2.4 million for a new service road in North Eveleigh and intersection upgrade work to handle traffic to and from the North Eveleigh redevelopment.

In addition $15.5 million has been set aside for the Public Domain works which primarily involves providing the parks and open space detailed in the BEP. These include the Railway Station Civic space ($2.9m), Little Eveleigh Park ($3.06m), Fan of Tracks Park ($2.85m), Traverser 1 ($3.6m), North Eveleigh public garden open space ($2.11m) and Rachel Forster open space ($0.13m). The Gibbons Street upgrade picks up another $0.55m for short term works with $0.2m for improvements on Wilson Street and $0.1m for “footpaths, planting, lighting and street furniture in Eveleigh Street.

It is disappointing that the only new community facility planned is a “new childcare facility to service the new residents and workers” although the centre is also said to be also a “multi purpose centre”. The allocation for the centre however is only $1.2m. A further $0.1m has been allocated for an initial study into the control of flooding and drainage but design and construction of works are not covered as this depends on the study findings.

The question needs to be asked as to wether the works proposed adequately provide for the facilities needed in the community. Should the work along Gibbons Street for example be paid for by developer levies or should it be covered by the state government as part of its contribution to the Redfern Railway Station Upgrade with the $15.5 million in developer levies going to provide other much needed community facilities in the area?

We also need to ask why developments in the Eveleigh Street Precinct only provide $100,000 worth of street improvements. The Elder’s Centre proposed by the AHC Pemulwuy project should also be seen as a community facility towards which developer contributions can be made. Red Square, the opening up of the top of Eveleigh Street onto Lawson Street, which was shown in an earlier form to the community during the RED Strategy consultations and which continues to be worked on by the AHC should also be considered as suitable for building through developer levies.

The Draft Contributions Plan is on exhibition until 8^th December. As can be seen from the Gibbons Street item above the RWA’s plans are still being developed so take the opportunity to let the RWA know what you think their developer contributions should be spent on.

Commonwealth State Agreement on Redfern-Waterloo

We have seen it mentioned at the release of the RWA’s Built Environment Plan and most recently in the RWA’s Update newsletter but until this week we have not seen the actual agreement. The RWA and the Commonwealth have agreed to our request for the agreement to be released. A PDF of the signed agreement can be downloaded from the REDWatch website at PDF Version (Kb) or the text version can be read on the REDWatch website.

The agreement primarily focuses on cooperation between the RWA for the NSW Government and the Sydney ICC of the Office for Indigenous Policy Co-ordination for the Commonwealth to ensure the agreements objectives will be delivered. This includes services being delivered “in accordance with the priorities of the Redfern Waterloo Plan and in consultation with the local Aboriginal community and the Sydney City Council.” The agreement makes specific reference to co-operation in four areas: Employment and Enterprise; Education; Indigenous Housing and The Block; Human Services and; The Redfern Waterloo Plan.

In the meeting between the Minister and the AHC, Minister Sartor made a number of references to the Commonwealth but did not elaborate on his comments. Now we have seen the agreement we can see that the State and the Commonwealth have made specific agreements concerning the Block without any discussion with the AHC. The AHC is not happy that they were not consulted prior to any agreement between the Commonwealth and the State Governments about the AHC and the Block. The AHC have only found out about these agreements concerning the Block with the release of the agreement. On the Block the agreement states:

c) Indigenous Housing and The Block

• The Parties will work together to support the provision of affordable Indigenous housing in Redfern-Waterloo.
• The Parties in consultation with the local Indigenous community will seek to conclude an agreement with the Aboriginal Housing Company [AHC], the owner of the area of land known as the Block, for the sustainable development of the Block and its environs.
• The Parties agree that any government funding for development of the Block and its environs will be contingent upon the production of a sustainable vision for the site supported by both Governments, the AHC and the local Aboriginal community
• The Parties will agree on any appropriate involvement of the City of Sydney in any redevelopment of the Block and its environs.
  

If the Commonwealth State agreement is going to bring benefits to the local aboriginal community then the Commonwealth and the RWA together will have to do a lot better at the “consultation with the local Aboriginal community” than the RWA has been doing by itself to date. The various parts of the aboriginal communities that make up Redfern-Waterloo will also have to be partners in any agreements.

Human Services Plan Phase 2 Submission Fatigue

The law of diminishing returns seems to be setting in on the Human Services Plan. We are told that the RWA has only received four submissions for the phase 2 consultation. Submissions from NCOSS (MS Word Kb), Redfern Legal Centre (MS Word 48 Kb) and REDWatch (MS Word 71Kb) have been added to the REDWatch website so people can see the comments submitted. The submission from the PIAC homeless persons service will be added as soon as it is available on the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/humanservices/phase2paper.

We would like to think that the low level of submissions are a result of everyone thinking the RWA had covered the area adequately but we know from comments made to us by some of the services that the lack of response is rather foundered in their past experience of “we put time into providing input to the RWA but they don’t listen and nothing changes”. We now await the final version of the HSP Phase 2 to see if the latest submissions have been taken any more seriously.

We also hear some agencies have started to suggest to the RWA that if they want them to be involved in meetings they should start paying “sitting fees” so resources are not taken away from their clients as a result of time being put into RWA meetings which are not delivering results for their services.

New Alcohol Free Zone Proposal for the Block – until 22^nd December

The City of Sydney have placed on exhibition proposals to establish new Alcohol Free Zones in Pyrmont, King Cross, Newtown, Surry Hills and Redfern. The Redfern AFZ includes:

•           Eveleigh Street between Lawson and Vine Street
•           Louis Street between Caroline and Vine Street
•           Vine Street between Eveleigh Street and Abercrombie Street
•           Caroline Street between Eveleigh Street and Abercrombie Street
•           Holden Street
•           Eveleigh Lane between Vine Street and Caroline Street
•           Caroline Lane between Eveleigh and Abercrombie Street
•           Lawson Street between Gibbons Street and Little Eveleigh Street

The map showing the proposed Redfern and Chippendale zones can be downloaded from the council website Map | PDF 337Kb. Submissions should be submitted no later than Friday 22 December 2006. More information can be found at Proposed Alcohol Free Zones

No Decision yet on the Large and 3801

We have been advised by John Glastonbury from 3801 Ltd that they still have not heard anything back from the Government, either the Minister or RailCorp. It is looking like the Government is willing to let the 26^th November 2006 lease deadline pass before saying or doing anything. In the meantime, the 3801 Ltd Board has to manage its legal obligations regarding the Company. The issue of voluntary administration ( & timing) is a matter that has to be carefully considered by the Board but no action has been taken to date.

We notice that some people have been making use of the REDWatch Discussion Forum to make their comments on some of the Large Erecting Workshop and Heritage Rail issues.

Keep Up to Date with the REDWatch Website

Many of the documents in these updates appear on the REDWatch website as they are received so you do not have to wait the week or so for a RWIU to get all the news. By visiting the Recent Changes section of the website http://www.redwatch.org.au/recent you can see all the recent additions across the website. If you use RSS feeds you can have the items delivered to your PC as they are posted.

Good Neighbour BBQs

The community BBQ’s are back. A new series of community BBQs are planned for the City South area to provide you with safety advice on how to better secure your home, and information on events and activities taking place in your area. It is also a chance to meet Council safety officers and local police. So come along and meet your neighbours!

WATERLOO GREEN Wednesday 15 November 11.00am – 2.00pm Raglan Street
ZETLAND Sunday 19 November 11.00am – 2.00pm Victoria Park, Gadigal Ave
REDFERN Tuesday 21 November 11.00am – 2.00pm Poet’s Corner, Morehead Street
ALEXANDRIA PARK Sunday 26 November 11.00am – 2.00pm Buckland Street
SYDNEY PARK Sunday 3 December 11.00am – 2.00pm CARES Facility, Sydney Park Road

For more information call: John at City of Sydney 9288 5353 Georgie at the Police 8303 5127.

Corrections and Apologies

Yes we occasionally make mistakes like when we called the ILC the Indigenous Land Council rather than the Indigenous Land Corporation in a recent update. In the last issue we accidentally referred to Ben Spies-Butcher incorrectly as Spiers-Butcher. Our apologies too Ben.

Have your say – Consultations mentioned previously:

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

- Railz Hotel applies to RWA for 24 hour Licence – Exhibition until 15^th November 2006.

Railz Hotel on Regent Street, next to the Redfern RSL, has applied to the RWA for an extension of trading hours, so they can operate continuously with the exception of midnight Sunday to 5 am Monday. The details of the application can be seen on the RWA website at http://www.redfernwaterloo.nsw.gov.au/development_applications/development_proposals_on_exhibition.htm.

- CUB Development on Public Exhibition - until Monday 27th November 2006

The State Significant Site Listing and Concept Plan for redevelopment of Carlton United Breweries Site, Chippendale (MP 06_0171) have been placed on exhibition. Submissions must be received by Monday 27^th November. The Developer has established a website to display all the supporting documents at www.cubproject.com.au. The Department of Planning web site lists the exhibition notice at http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/asp/major_projects.asp as well as the earlier documents and Director General’s Requirements at

http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/asp/register2006.asp#gma.

- Redfern Waterloo Local Action Plan – Until Tuesday 28^th November 2006.

The City of Sydney has placed two proposed Local Action Plans covering parts of Redfern Waterloo on exhibition. The Inner South Local Action Plan covers the bulk of Redfern Waterloo, while the Inner East Local Action Plan covers the Moore Park and Surry Hills part of Redfern. The release of the action plans for consultation follows recent public meetings on the plans. If you want to see what is proposed in your local area’s Local Action Plan and make comment on it, go to the pages on the website links above and download the draft plans. These web pages also include snapshots of the area and updates on local area issues of concern.

- Heritage Streetscapes Study – 1^st December 2006

Heritage Streetscapes Study - Until Friday 1 December 2006. Includes Redfern and Regents Street Redfern