In this Update:

CUB Submissions extended until December 4^th 2006

REDWatch Meeting – 6^th December 2006 6pm

St Andrews Redfern Campus in the Redfern Community Centre DA – Until 7^th December 2006

AHC Community Meeting on Pemulwuy Project – 13^th December 2006 6pm

3801 Leaves the Large Erecting Shop but the campaign for the Large continues

Redfern School Site Director General’s Requirements Released & Temporary Fence

RWA Rumblings

Souths Leagues Club to Stay in Redfern

CarriageWorks Opening Draws Near

Land and Environment Court Ruling Strengthens Environmental Impact Statements

Harvey Volke Thesis on Politics of State Housing 1900-1939

Reading Updates in Larger Type with Wider Spacing

RWA DA Notification Period Extended over Christmas New Year

Have your say – Summary of Current Consultations

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

CUB Submissions extended until December 4^th 2006

The pile of papers that need to be gone through to assess the CUB Site Concept Plan currently on exhibition is proving hard work for the Combined Chippendale Community Groups (CCCG) and the City of Sydney Council. These are the parties best placed to critique the plans on exhibition. Neither CCCG nor the City managed to finalise their submissions or make them publicly available even though the initial deadline has now passed. The Department of Planning has provided an unofficial extension of a week to allow people to make their submissions see Extra Time for CUB submissions. Currently on the Council side only the Mayoral Minute on the Carlton & United Breweries Site - Concept Plan | PDF 22Kb provides an indication of the City’s concerns (it only went up mid this week). The CCCG have written to the City raising issues that residents believe should be taken up by the City with Fosters. These issues are covered in the Letter on CUB Site from CCCG to City of Sydney Council (PDF 186 Kb). The Combined Community Groups have also provided an update to the community encouraging them to also make a submission An urgent CUB Update from CCCG – Submissions can be emailed. Finally, in case you missed it, Elizabeth Farrelly in one of her articles, The quality of mercy is likely to be severely strained, looked at a number of issues connected to both the Caritas and CUB site developments. In the article Farrelly makes specific mention of the problems raised by the arrangements made for the CUB site to fund affordable housing in the RWA area.

When we see the submissions from the City and the Combined Chippendale Community Groups we will post them on the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/statesignificant/cub/exhibition/ .

REDWatch Meeting – 6^th December 2006 6pm

This will be the last REDWatch meeting for the year and after a brief meeting we will celebrate with end of year supper at the Factory Community Centre. If you have been involved during the year or wish to come along and meet some of the people involved this is your chance. One agenda item is to consider the policy areas that REDWatch would want to be picked up by whichever state government we have after the March election. As an example, at present the position from the RWA is that “we can fix anything as long as it can be done without any new funding”. The new state government and Minister responsible for Redfern Waterloo need to undertake to provide the extra funding necessary to address the area’s issues. REDWatch meets downstairs at The Factory, 67 Raglan Street Waterloo. There will be no REDWatch meeting in January 2007. The first meeting next year will be on 7^th February 2007.

St Andrews Redfern Campus in the Redfern Community Centre DA – Until 7^th December 2006

In our last update we mentioned St Andrews Cathedral school’s plans for an Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander campus in Redfern at the Redfern Community Centre. The Development Application for this campus is currently on exhibition. Details of the application can be found at http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Development/DAsOnExhibition/details.asp?tpk=814936 .

AHC Community Meeting on Pemulwuy Project – 13^th December 2006 6pm

The Aboriginal Housing Company is holding a Community Meeting on Wednesday 13^th December at the Redfern Community Centre to make a presentation on the current Pemulwuy Project Concept Plan being prepared for the Department of Planning. This will be an opportunity to meet the architects, planners and others working on the project and to ask any questions you have about the project. The AHC recently held a presentation on the project for the other land owners within the area covered by the project and for some Lawson Street landowners who wish to join the development.

The AHC is currently preparing its Concept Plan submission to the Department of Planning and has requirements set down by the Department of Planning Director-General Environmental Assessment Requirements (PDF 56 Kb) that must be met. The most recent drawings presented to Minister Sartor can be downloaded from the AHC at Pemulwuy Project Description Report (PDF 1.1MB).

For those who missed Lisa Dabscheck’s article in the Sydney Morning Herald’s monthly the(Sydney)magazine Rebuilding the Block we have put the text up on the REDWatch website. If you want to see the glossy photos of local personalities you will need to buy the magazine or if you buy the SMH you will need to quickly go through the recycling before it goes out. Please note however that the Innovarchi illustration in the article is not from the current Concept Plan.

3801 Leaves the Large Erecting Shop but the campaign for the Large continues

There has been a lot of activity on the 3801 and the Large since our last update. The Friends of Eveleigh have continued to make the media aware of the issue of 3801 and the need for the Large Erecting Shop to continue in use through their Friends of Eveleigh - Media Kit (PDF 4.6 MB). On 22 November RailCorp issued a media release Condition Assessment for Locomotive 3801 confirming the hand over of Locomotive 3801 to the Rail Transport Museum on November 26th. Last weekend saw the last trip by 3801 under the control of 3801 Ltd. 3801 Ltd held a media conference after the train departed. By this time it was known that RTM would collect the train on Monday evening and that it would be taken by a joint 3801 and RTM crew to Maitland for an assessment of the locomotive.

Tight security was put in place by RailCorp for when the 3801 left Eveleigh at 6.50pm on Monday 27^th November 2006 and we hear for when it arrived at the other end. Friends of Eveleigh raised their concerns in their media statement The Great Australian Train Robbery, REDWatch in 3801 to leave Eveleigh Mon 27 Nov 6pm under own steam, Clover Moore in Letter from Clover Moore to Morris Iemma - 27 November 2006 , and the National Trust NSW in a last minute attempts to prevent the move. In the meantime 3801 Ltd's Chairman and General Manager had both resigned and four 3801 Ltd staff had advised they were being retrenched and will be finishing up late December.

With the train underway to the Hunter Valley, RailCorp issued a media release Experts Recommend a New Future for 3801 which announced that the Minister had received the report on 3801 Ltd and RTM. The report found neither organisation was able to handle the engine in the way it should be handled. Both organisations were encouraged to work together while a larger amalgamation of rail heritage interests was being put together by RailCorp. No mention was made about the future of the ‘Large’. The media statement seemed aimed in part at retaining heritage workers and volunteers, some of whom had just been retrench or made further disillusioned by the Government leaving its announcement about the future of 3801 until after 3801 had been handed back to the RTM and 3801 Ltd had been commercially crippled.

The “Leaving of Eveleigh” by 3801 will however separate the politics of 3801 Ltd and RTM battle over the locomotive from the issue of the future of the Large. Hopefully the importance of the Large to future rail heritage capacity in NSW and its potential for tourism and active rail heritage can now be assessed on its merits rather than it being portrayed as part of the RTM and 3801 Ltd battle. If the O’Rourke recommendations are implemented RTM, 3801 Ltd, the Powerhouse and the new office of rail heritage will come together to form a new rail heritage body promotion tourism and rail heritage. The Minister should release the O’Rourke report so that all concerned about rail heritage can see what has been proposed. Hopefully the Large will have a place in the report and longer term RailCorp plan. Many rail heritage people will certainly be pushing for this outcome.

REDWatch holds concerns for the future of the Large Erecting Workshop following the departure of 3801 Ltd. The area where the Large Erecting workshop currently stands has been zoned to accommodate a 12 storey building under the RWA BEP and its State Environment Planning Policy (SEPP). Simultaneously the Large is listed in the SEPP as historically significant, but such buildings can be adaptively reused rather than retained. REDWatch fears that the departure of 3801 may be the beginning of the end for active rail heritage use at Eveleigh. REDWatch will support rail heritage groups’ efforts to have the Large as a convenient city base to service rail heritage operators and to service the large local and international rail tourist market. This could increase tourism and employment in the RWA area, while at the same time retaining knowledge, training and equipment essential to the long term success of heritage rail operations in Sydney and NSW.

Redfern School Site Director General’s Requirements Released & Temporary Fence

The Department of Planning have now released the Director General’s Requirements for the Indigenous Land Corporation’s National Indigenous Youth Centre on the former school site. The DGR set out all the planning issues the ILC will need to address in their proposal for the school. They include heritage, minimising antisocial behaviour, tree retention, dealing with contamination, access to playing fields after hours, roads and traffic and many other issues. If you have an interest in what happens on this site you can look at what has been required. The ILC must now prepare the materials required and submit their application to the Department of Planning, after which the proposal will be put on exhibition. Hopefully however the promised discussions with the local community will happen well before the project gets to this stage.

The ILC have also lodged DA 015-11-06 (PDF 1.3Mb) with the RWA for the “Use of temporary security fencing around three (3) existing buildings on the former Redfern Public School site whilst the National Indigenous Development Centre is being developed.” The proposals are on exhibition until 11^th December 2006.

RWA Rumblings

Sometime ago we bought attention to the RWA’s decision to include a link from their website to the Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, but to decline a link to the REDWatch site on the grounds that REDWatch is too political. The City of Sydney provides links from their website to both Chambers of Commerce within the City and to Residents’ Groups such as REDWatch. REDWatch Co-ordinating Group member Ross Smith has taken up this issue through his local member Kristina Keneally. On her last day working at the RWA Nette Griggs had the task of writing a Letter from RWA concerning decision not to make a link on RWA site to REDWatch which is worth a read, not only for the lack of explanation for the decision, but for some of the nice things she said about REDWatch. Is it worthwhile noting that REDWatch has been given human services material by the RWA to post on its website so the community which allowed service providers access to material from RWA consultations which was not on the RWA website … or is that just being political?

Nette Griggs position of Director Community Relations is being filled currently by Natasa Tosic. Maybe it is the season but we have also heard from a number of different directions that another RWA staff member is leaving the RWA. We have tried to get confirmation but so far to no avail so we are not mentioning any names.

Souths Leagues Club to Stay in Redfern

The counting is over and the Football Club’s proposal for the future of Souths Leagues Club has been accepted. The Leagues Club will stay opposite Redfern Oval and provide a base for the Club opposite the new Redfern Oval. For more information see Holmes a Court's coup complete. Work on the Oval upgrade continues, but not without problems when Asbestos halts Oval works. The old mounding is said to contain old car bodies and all sorts of junk so who knows what else might turn up.

CarriageWorks Opening Draws Near

With the opening of The CarriageWorks Contemporary Performance Space off Wilson St on January 5^th 2007 the area will get three state-of-the-art theatres, rehearsal spaces, offices, workshops and a cafe. The impressive foyer will doubles as a performance space. You can find out a little more in the recent SMH the(Sydney)magazine article allaboard by Mark Chipperfield. As advised last update the RWA is currently dealing with a DA to change some of the approvals for the theatre development – see RWA Variation to Carriageworks DA - Until Wednesday 6th December 2006.

Land and Environment Court Ruling Strengthens Environmental Impact Statements

You may have seen news about the Minister for Planning’s recent “house keeping” changes to NSW Planning laws and the concerns that they raised Sartor under fire over planning change . These changes preceded the NSW Land and Environment Court ruling this week on the Anvil Hill coalmine application. In Anne Davies’ SMH November 28 article on the ruling, Landmark climate change ruling puts heat on industry, we noticed her comments on the wider ramifications of the judgement:

“There was an extra sting for the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor. Justice Pain rejected the argument that the fast-track approvals process for major projects, introduced two years ago, meant that environmental impact statements were either optional or could be less thorough. Mr Sartor said the Government would carefully consider the implications.”

Harvey Volke Thesis on Politics of State Housing 1900-1939

Long time local stirrer and public housing activist Harvey Volke died early last year. Donations from friends and those with an interest in his public housing research, allowed Chris Martin from Shelter and Dr Jennifer Gamble from Sydney Uni’s Dept of Architecture to complete Harvey’s thesis. He was awarded a M.Phil degree posthumously last week. This means that the important research work that rv (as he often styled himself) is now publicly available as “The Politics of State Rental Housing in New South Wales, 1900-1939 – Three Case Studies. The three case studies cover The Rocks and Millers Point following the Plague, the Daceyville Garden Suburb experiment (where your excess water charges would be paid) and the grand plan for public housing in Erskineville (if you could pay top dollar and had great furniture!). At a celebration on Friday 24^th November 2006 Professor Peter Phibbs from Sydney University and City of Sydney Historian Dr Shirley Fitzgerald, who were the examiners, talked about Harvey’s case studiers and the importance of the historical perspective for modern day debates about public housing. The first Harvey Volke Essay Prize was awarded to local Redfern Architecture post-graduate student David Tickle. Harvey’s thesis can be downloaded from the Ian Buchan Fell Housing Research Centre www.arch.usyd.edu.au/research/centres_ian.shtml.

Reading Updates in Larger Type with Wider Spacing

One of our readers has asked us to look at the possibility of increasing line spacing to improve readability. We would be interested in other’s thoughts on this as we are concerned that this may make the updates feel larger and more overwhelming (a problem some people already report).

There is another option for those who are having trouble reading the Updates that is to read the update on the REDWatch website. The Updates will usually be on the website by the time you get your email or soon after. Web browsers allow you to increase text size and consequently line spacing in a way an email reader normally cannot do. So if you are having trouble reading this email, try the web version at http://www.redwatch.org.au/updatestopic and increase your text size.

RWA DA Notification Period Extended over Christmas New Year

The RWA website has advised that letters notifying neighbours of proposed developments (including modification to existing approvals) will continue to be sent out during December 2006 and January 2007, however the period allowed for reply will be extended. The changes to notification and advertising periods for applications will be as follows:

·         All Development / Section 96 Applications lodged between 27 November 2006 and 04 December 2006 will remain on notification until 22 January 2007.

·         All Development / Section 96 Applications lodged between 05 December 2006 and 12 January 2007 will remain on notification until 05 February 2007.

Have your say – Summary of Current Consultations

Below we have listed consultations currently open for community input and provided a link for further information: 

• CoS Carlton United Breweries Site - Until Monday 4 December 2006. (see extension above)
• CoS Heritage Streetscapes Study – Until Friday 1 December 2006. (Includes Redfern and Regents Street Redfern)
• CoS Inner East Local Action Plan – Until Friday 1 December 2006. (East Redfern}
• RWA Variation to Carriageworks DA - Until Wednesday 6th December 2006
• RWA Biomedical Building Mobile network facility DA - Until Wednesday 6th December 2006
• CoS DA - St Andrews Redfern Campus - Until Thursday 7th December 2006
• RWA Draft Contributions Plan - Until Friday 8th December 2006  
• RWA School Site Temporary Fencing DA - Until Monday 11th December 2006
• CoS Proposed Alcohol Free Zones - Until Friday 22 December 2006.
• CoS Street Drinking Strategy - Until Friday 12 January 2007.
• CoS City South Local Action Plan – Until Monday 15 January 2007. (Alexandria and Rosebury)
• CoS Draft Open Space & Recreation Needs Study – Until Friday 2 February 2007.