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RWIU 28 May 2008

In this Update: REDWatch Community North Eveleigh Submission Writing BBQ – Saturday 31st May 11am – 1 pm / Some Further Comments on the North Eveleigh Concept Plan on Exhibition until 12th June 2008 / DGRs for First High rise Proposed for Regent Street Under RWA Plan / Watpac wins Seven Network Construction Contract / RWA’s Community Facilities and Services Map / Federal Budget Impacts on Redfern Waterloo Service / Nominations sought for City of Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Advisory Panel / AHC the Block and the Shape of The Future / Inquiry into Aboriginal Disadvantage / Inquiry into Child Protection Services / Redfern Business Precinct Study - Towards the Future – 17th June 2008 / RWCC Redfern and Regent Streets Retail Strip Sub-Committee / Free Business Advice / Eveleigh and Rail Heritage Activity / Friends of Erskineville Village Claim Victory over Woolworths / Frasers Broadway Concept Plan & Artists Spaces DA / GCA Building Gets Border / Sustainable Sydney 2030 – Submissions Close Friday 30th May 2008 / Bourke Street Bikeway Consultation Extended - until Friday 6th June 2008 / CDEP Discussion Paper - submissions by Thursday 12th June 2008 / Senior First Aid Course – Starts 16th June 2008 / International Association for Public Participation Community Engagement Course / Draft Darlington Chippendale Urban Design Study Soon / In the Media / May 2008 South Sydney Herald / Have your say – Summary of Current Consultations

 

[Please use the list of articles below to find what is of interest to you and jump directly to the story of interest.. We do not expect you to be interested in everything.]

REDWatch Community North Eveleigh Submission Writing BBQ – Saturday 31st May 11am – 1 pm

Some Further Comments on the North Eveleigh Concept Plan on Exhibition until 12th June 2008

DGRs for First High rise Proposed for Regent Street Under RWA Plan

Watpac wins Seven Network Construction Contract

RWA’s Community Facilities and Services Map

Federal Budget Impacts on Redfern Waterloo Service

Nominations sought for City of Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Advisory Panel

AHC the Block and the Shape of The Future

Inquiry into Aboriginal Disadvantage

Inquiry into Child Protection Services

Redfern Business Precinct Study - Towards the Future – 17th June 2008

RWCC Redfern and Regent Streets Retail Strip Sub-Committee

Free Business Advice

Eveleigh and Rail Heritage Activity

Friends of Erskineville Village Claim Victory over Woolworths

Frasers Broadway Concept Plan & Artists Spaces DA

GCA Building Gets Border

Sustainable Sydney 2030 – Submissions Close Friday 30th May 2008

Bourke Street Bikeway Consultation Extended -  until Friday 6th June 2008

CDEP Discussion Paper - submissions by Thursday 12th June 2008.

Senior First Aid Course – Starts 16th June 2008

International Association for Public Participation Community Engagement Course

Draft Darlington Chippendale Urban Design Study Soon

In the Media

May 2008 South Sydney Herald

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)

REDWatch Community North Eveleigh Submission Writing BBQ – Saturday 31st May 11am – 1 pm

Come along and talk with others about their concerns with the proposed North Eveleigh Concept Plan and maybe even pen a brief submission. REDWatch is organising a Community Submission Writing BBQ on 31st May 2008 between 11am and 1pm in the Charles McKiernan Reserve on the corner of Abercrombie & Shepherd Sts. This small park is one of few green spaces close to the new development. The intersection will be the main access point for traffic to and from the eastern part of the development. The RWA has agreed to open Yaama Dhiyaan (255 Wilson Street Darlington) on the 31st May from 11am to 1 pm so it will give an extra opportunity outside business hours for anyone, who has not yet seen the model and plans for the site, to question the RWA. In the case of rain we will meet at Yaama Dhiyaan without the BBQ and then adjourn to a near by hotel to write submissions.

Please spread the word about the RWA proposals and the submission writing day. Download a copy of the REDWatch 31 May 2008 Community BBQ on North Eveleigh Concept Plan - Leaflet (PDF 179KB) and give it to any of your friends who may not be aware of the details. Residents from the Pine Estate have also produced a leaflet to encourage community response which you can download here (PDF 40Kb).

Notice of the Concept Plan exhibition appears on the Department of Planning’s website as MP 08_0015 with contact details for the officer handling the exhibition and details for submissions. The Concept Plan and its A-Z Appendices can be downloaded from www.redfernwaterloo.nsw.gov.au/development_applications/north_eveleigh.htm. The documents can be also viewed in hard copy at the City of Sydney Council, Redfern Neighbourhood Service Centre, 158 Redfern Street Redfern, at Yaama Dhiyaan (255 Wilson Street Darlington) during the information session times given at the RWA's website.

Please note that you have to put in a submission to the Department of Planning by 12th June 2008 to have your views considered. Submissions can be sent by email to information@planning.nsw.gov.au or by post to: The Director, Urban Assessments, Department of Planning, GPO Box 39, Sydney NSW 2001. Please consider also passing a copy of your submission to REDWatch so we are aware of residents’ concerns. REDWatch will post submissions from organisations and individuals who would like to share their publishable comments with others. REDWatch has set up a comment section on its website for people to share public comments. Some Macdonaldtown residents have also set up a closed Yahoo group and the details are in the first posting on the REDWatch Comments on the North Eveleigh Concept Plan.

Some Further Comments on the North Eveleigh Concept Plan on Exhibition until 12th June 2008

In our last update we provided Some Initial Comments on the North Eveleigh Concept Plan in the last couple of weeks we have had the opportunity to talk with a few more people and we are starting to get an impression of the reaction to the RWA’s proposed Concept Plan for North Eveleigh. We will have a better idea after Saturday. Here are some of the things we are hearing:

There is considerable concern about the Traffic Impact Study and how the area is going to cope with the increased level of traffic – particularly how this traffic will interact with the growing numbers of pedestrians and the increase in bike traffic in the area. The traffic study does not provide any projected figures for the expected traffic flows out of the site; it only provides a measure of what “level of service” can be expected at various traffic lights. As traffic lights onto major roads, such as Cleveland and Gibbons Sts, can not be changed, the only solutions for major intersections are to extend the holding areas in Darlington before the intersection to manage the traffic increase. The study reports that the University wants to close Butlin Ave, but that this change has not been included in the modelling. Residents expect that this will have a significant impact as traffic will have to use Shepherd St or Darlington Rd and Golden Grove St.

People in Queen St are already reporting accidents in Wilson St as cars go left then immediately right to leave the Eveleigh site via Queen Street, this will increase significantly with the development. Queen Street is the most convenient options for traffic wanting to turn either left or right into King Street. The traffic study boundary is at the corner of Burren and Wilson Sts and it is assumed the traffic will disperse through Erskineville without any difficulty. There is concern that the given the stop sign on Albert St and limited options available to exit onto Erskineville Road that traffic problems will result in Erskineville.

At a recent meeting between some residents and the RWA’s traffic consultants we put raised concern these concerns and it became clear that much of the underlying work for the study was contained in an earlier report done for the RWA Built Environment Plan. Without access to this study it is difficult to assess the assumptions underlying the concept plan document. The RWA has agreed to release the earlier study and the RWA has also proposed to put together some Q&As about the traffic impacts to make it clearer for the non expert. This material will go up on the REDWatch site at North Eveleigh Major Project Application by RWA 2008 section when we have received it and it should also appear on the RWA’s site. If you have specific questions we suggest you email them to the RWA and request an answer. Remember that it is the Department of Planning that assesses the project, so your comments have to be put in writing to the Department for them to be taken into account in the final approval. 

Residents backing on to Iverys lane are worried about the impact of the planned six storey building close to their properties and the lack of a sympathetic transition between the existing houses and the proposed development promised in the RWA’s Built Environment Plan (page 51-52). Suggestions have included removing the building to create a park or cutting its height by two storeys and redistributing the height on to the taller buildings. The 4 storey buildings proposed at the eastern end of Wilson St create a more sympathetic interface with the existing residential area due to the existing change in land fall with some of the building height being in the cutting, although it could probably be improved by a more attic style setback on the top storey. However down the Ivery’s Lane end there is no cutting and the land at the end of the site is actually higher than Ivery’s Lane. This results in the four storey building near Forbes St opposite two storey terraces and the six storey building at the end of the site appearing higher than six storeys from the properties backing on to Ivery’s Lane.

There is also concern about the lack of public green space in the plan and the extra pressure this will put on the already heavily used Hollis Park. The public spaces proposed on the site are mainly around retail areas such as the Paint Shop, CarriageWorks and Blacksmith’s Shop markets. There is concern also based on the recent Erskineville battle over the proposed Woolworths development that any supermarket development will bring extra car traffic to the area. It has been argued that it may not be a good spot even for a locals walking to a supermarket given that they would have to carry their groceries up a hill to get out of the site and hence may prefer to continue to drive to Broadway.

There is also concern about the failure of the RWA Concept Plan to lock in strong green initiatives on the site. While the City of Sydney is proposing in its 2030 strategy that all major new developments need to include tri-generation and other energy saving and green house gas reduction measures, the RWA Concept Plan has no such requirements. The RWA Concept Plan for green house reduction measures, including how parking will be handled and how much there will be is left up to the developer who purchases the site to determine. A recent 2030 Business forum emphasised the need for all large site developments, like North Eveleigh, to achieve high greenhouse reduction targets if the 2030 sustainability targets are to be met.

Those concerned with heritage issues see little that will ensure that visitors to the site will get a proper historical interpretation of the site that explains the role of The Workshops. Retaining some of the buildings by adaptively reusing them is only one part of the equation; the other is to provide the necessary historical interpretation that explains the site, its significance and its linkages to the surrounding area and the history of the state. The RWA’s proposal allows the Chief Mechanical Engineers Building to be broken up internally into housing units and the fabric of the Paint Shop to be destroyed by four storey residential buildings out of its centre.

There seems to be some confusion about the definition of affordable housing and we have heard people express concern thinking it is just another name for public housing. Affordable housing is housing that is affordable for key workers such as nurses, teachers, police and other service personnel, who need to work in the heart of the city but who can’t afford to rent or buy in the middle of the city. We have bought together statements throughout the Concept Plan documents about Affordable Housing and the RWA North Eveleigh Concept Plan May 2008 for those wanting further information on what is proposed. The RWA promised in the Affordable Housing Contributions Plan that it would develop an Affordable Housing Programme. We are concerned that the RWA has not released details of such a Programme independently of announcing Affordable Housing for this site. We have been advised by the RWA that student housing does not qualify as Affordable Housing.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore has also raised some concerns at a recent Council meeting when asking the Council’s CEO to prepare a submission from council. You can see the details of her concerns here Lord Mayor Comments on North Eveleigh Plans on Exhibition. The only media comment on the Concept Plan since it was released is from the Central Facelift to make North Eveleigh a Cultural Hub. The South Sydney Herald’s Some concerns over plans for North Eveleigh went to press before the Concept Plan was released.

These are some of the issues being raised back with REDWatch and at the RWA’s information sessions. If you would like to talk to others about these issues or wish to raise other issues we suggest you come to the REDWatch submission BBQ on May 31st (details above).

DGRs for First High rise Proposed for Regent Street Under RWA Plan

A Major Project preliminary assessment (MP_08_0058) (PDF 3.8MB) for 90 Regent Street, Redfern was lodged with the Department of Planning on 17 March 2008. It is for the demolition of the existing building on the corner of Regent and Marian Street and the construction of a ten-storey commercial building with one level of basement car parking containing eight car spaces and service room. The Director-General's requirements for Environmental Assessment (PDF 86KB ) have been issued on 8 May 2008 by the Department of Planning for the Project application (PDF 923 KB ) made on behalf of Tony Larkins and Richard Pembroke. This is the first application within the RWA Redfern Commercial Core zone which includes the area between Regent and Gibbons Sts and the DGRs will enable possible buyers and sellers to assess requirements for undertaking developments with in that zone. The zone permits floor space rations of 7:1 and heights of up to 18 storeys. The site is currently on the market indicating that it could be could be developed as a stand alone project or available for consolidation into a larger development subject to a successful Department of Planning application. A number of rumours have been circulating about attempts to consolidate parts of the site. Railz tried to sell their site earlier but were unable to get the price they wanted.

Watpac wins Seven Network Construction Contract

Queensland based construction firm Watpac has won the contract to build the Seven Network's new $120 million Redfern reports Watpac wins Seven network construction project in the Australian of May 21, 2008. “The 12-storey building at Australian Technology Park will be home to Seven's offices and studios, as well as associated company Pacific Magazines. The unrelated Global Television Services will also take space in the building. Single-asset trust ATP Property -- jointly owned by Seven and Rebel Property Group -- is developing the building and aims to hold it long-term. Rebel managing director Allen Linz said yesterday that a marketing campaign for the 14,000sqm available would start soon. The space would be offered for $400-$450/sqm net. Mr Linz said it was an attractive campus-style precinct seven minutes from the CBD, on Sydney's busiest train line.”

RWA’s Community Facilities and Services Map

One of the interesting finds in the RWA North Eveleigh Concept Plan documents is a previously unsighted map of human services in the Redfern Waterloo area. It can be found at the end of the RWA’s North Eveleigh Social Impact Assessment - May 2008 (1.3 MB PDF). We have extracted it and also put it on the REDWatch website so you can download just the RWA Redfern-Waterloo Community Facilities & Services Map (1 MB PDF). We suggest you download the map and have a close look at it.

After the Morgan Disney report into Human Services, two Human Services Plans and three years of RWA involvement in reorganising human services you would expect the map would give an accurate picture of human services in the area. Try finding some of the following key services on the map – South Sydney Community Aid, The Food Distribution Network, South Sydney Community Transport or any services run from the Redfern Centre built at the rear of St Saviours Redfern. You also will not find Inner Sydney Regional Council for Social Development or any of the services operating out of there. The Factory is not shown in the correct location and The Settlement Neighbourhood Centre is not listed as a Youth Service (which it was originally wrongly classed as to be reformed) nor is it a Mixed Service (like the Factory or Redfern Legal Service) it is now classed as a Family and Children’s Service! Please have a close look at this map and let the RWA know of other errors so they can be corrected and a truly useful map be constructed.

The Central magazine recently ran an article about the end of RWA Human Services funding in Community Service Crisis. The article contained a mix of responses from local services who were either concerned about future funding for projects previously funded by the RWA and those who felt there would be no change. In a letter in response Redfern-Waterloo on the Up, Robert Domm CEO restated the RWA’s achievements. We await the Human Services Plan Phase One evaluation which is expected in June to see what inroads the RWA has made in improving Government service delivery in the area.

That the RWA can create a Community Facilities and Services Map with so many key omissions, indicates that government understanding of non-government services has not changed since the earlier flawed Morgan Disney report into the area’s human services, which was also unable to produce an up to date full list of the area’s non-government human services. The stuff up underlies both the importance of drawing on local knowledge, which government so often misses, and the need for those working for government to continually check back with the community to verify that their findings reflect what is on the ground.

The RWA North Eveleigh Concept Plan proposes the following new community facilities for the area (page 4 North Eveleigh Social Impact Assessment):

  • Childcare: It is intended that the development provide for a 45 place childcare centre which will be accessible to the public. It is estimated that there will be 71 children aged between 0-5 years in North Eveleigh over the next 5-7 years. The standard of provision is considered to be higher than the existing standard in the area.
  • Community Centre: It is intended that the former Scientific Services building on the North Eveleigh site be adaptively reused for the provision of a new 883m2 community centre which will serve the needs of the new residents at North Eveleigh as well as the wider existing community. It is envisaged that the facility will provide for cultural development and artistic expression as well as meeting rooms and services which will benefit new and existing residents.

Federal Budget Impacts on Redfern Waterloo Service

The Central Magazine ran an article Budget: Health, Education Benefit - Windfall for local services detailing the almost $50 million for local universities and $50 million for cancer research at Camperdown contained in the budget. Not all local services were lucky in the budget. One of the projects axed by the government’s first budget was the Regional Partnerships Program of the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Services and Local Government.

The Factory had put 12 months of work and the expense of hiring an architect and putting a DA to council as a requirement for an application to the Regional Partnerships Program to refurbishment of its kitchen and disabled toilet. The negotiation was quite complex and necessitated matching funding from Housing NSW (which had been approved but are now at risk). The programme has now been axed by the Rudd government leaving The Factory significantly out of pocket and without the facilities to run its proposed new programmes on Nutrition, Health Awareness and Food Security. If you have any suggestions or know of any other programmes that might help The Factory get its kitchen upgrade please contact Patrick Russell on 9698 9569.

Nominations sought for City of Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Advisory Panel

The City of Sydney is establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel to help guide and advise on key issues such as implementing an Indigenous Cultural Centre. Discussions will cover a range of issues including cultural activities and events, training and employment, business development, recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage in the public domain, as well as the City's policies and protocols. The proposal follows recommendations from the City's Sustainable Sydney 2030 Strategic Plan which recommends better representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the creation of an Indigenous Cultural Knowledge Centre and the Eora Journey.

The 14-member panel is proposed to comprise two Aboriginal elders; two Aboriginal young people under 25 years; six Aboriginal community representatives; one Councillor and three City officers. An Aboriginal co-chair, who will be elected at the inaugural meeting by the Panel's members, will co-chair the panel with a City of Sydney Councillor. For more information see the CoS Media Release.

AHC the Block and the Shape of The Future

The AHC is continuing its campaign to get the Department of Planning to waive $60,000 in fees to assess its concept plan application. The AHC’s battle was recently reported in the SMH’s Fee too much for Block project and the ABC’s NSW urged to revive Block makeover. Following the AHC’s appearance at the Inquiry into Indigenous Disadvantage it has now also supplied written answers to the Inquiry (962 Kb PDF).

AHC CEO Mick Mundine recently gave an interview to Time Out Sydney about his vision for the Block in Mick Mundine - On the streets of Redfern, there's a new day rising. The same issue carried the tourism feature Walkabout #6: The Block, Redfern (2010) which gives a taste of the destination Redfern could become. If you want to see another manifestation of what can attract people to Redfern you might like to come to “Gathering Ground 2: History, Ceremony, Protest” which is a collaboration between PACT Theatre and the Redfern Community Centre that encourages local youth to participate in performance and installation art. It starts on Thursday 29th May 2006 night and runs over the following two nights. You can find more details in the SMH’s Hip to be square and the Central Performance Rocks The Block.

Inquiry into Aboriginal Disadvantage

The last Update went out before the transcript for the Redfern Community Centre hearing evidence went up on the Inquiry into Aboriginal Disadvantage website. It took some time to appear on the Inquiry web site so if you gave up looking for Transcript 30/04/2008 2 (297 KB PDF) but are still interested, you can now download the AHC, Health Dept, AMS, Babana and Settlement evidence. You can also download the AHC’s written answers to the Inquiry (962 Kb PDF).  For easy access for those researching RWA activities we have also extracted the RWA evidence to Inquiry into Overcoming Indigenous disadvantage - 29 April 2008

Inquiry into Child Protection Services

One of the other inquiries at the moment is the Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in NSW. You can download all of the submissions, hearings etc. from http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/cpsinquiry

Redfern Business Precinct Study - Towards the Future – 17th June 2008

A successful Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce meeting was held at Mr Mary’s on May 6th at which around 70 people attended the Environmetrics presentation and workshop on “Redfern Business Precinct – Towards the Future”. Businesses who missed this meeting can download the RWCC Business Forum Presentation (1MB PDF) and the Report on RWCC Business Forum Presentation (104Kb PDF). Environmetrics have set up a Bulletin Board to encourage comments on the issues raised so far in the Redfern study. There will be a follow up meeting at Mr Mary’s on Tuesday 17 June 2008 6-8pm. If you have a business in Redfern Waterloo please visit the Chambers website at www.rwchamber.com.au and make your interest known so you can be advised about coming activities by the chamber.

RWCC Redfern and Regent Streets Retail Strip Sub-Committee

The Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce has set up a Chamber sub-committee to follow up on some of the issues raised at the Environmentics meeting including shutters and related insurance issues, pilferage and parking which were some immediate issues from the May 6th meeting. The aim is to work with the Council and the RWA to arrive at solutions for both Redfern and Regent Sts. If you would like to be involved on this committee or make suggestions on any of these issues please contact Chris Curtis on 0410 588 700.

Free Business Advice

The Redfern Waterloo Authority and the Department of State and Regional Development operate a Free Business Advice service for both existing businesses and for those thinking of starting up a business in the area. The service provides free one-on-one confidential advice through an experienced business advisor who has over 20 years experience helping start new businesses or grow existing ones. You can download from these links the leaflets for the Free Business Advice Service (79 KB PDF) and the Free Aboriginal Business Advice Service (79 KB PDF).

Eveleigh and Rail Heritage Activity

There has been activity in rail yards around the state as the Office of Rail Heritage gets set to dispose of surplus rail equipment in a tender closing on 11th June 2008. RailCorp record keeping has not been good and we understand there are a number of ownership disputes. We understand some rolling stock and spare parts belonging to the Powerhouse Museum were taken away recently from near the Large with other rolling stock removed by RailCorp. Volunteers at Eveleigh were particularly upset that Lounge Car CPJ 924 is on the list of items RailCorp has put up for tender. This carriage was built by volunteers from a carriage condemned by the State Rail Authority in March, 1989 and now RailCorp is claiming it and putting it up for sale with no recognition that volunteers built the carriage virtually from scratch. To add to the insult the news of the “repossession” coincided with Volunteers Week. You can read one of the volunteer’s responses in The Great TRAIN ROBBERS still in business (47 KB PDF).

Friends of Erskineville Village Claim Victory over Woolworths

As we have earlier reported residents have been fighting an inappropriate Woolworth development proposed for Erskineville. Some of background was covered recently in the Courier articles Locals Say No to Woolworths and Victory for Village Life - No Woolworths to be built in Erskineville. Residents have claimed victory in their fight to prevent the two storey Woolworths supermarket being built at the Hive Complex on Erskineville after City of Sydney Council, under delegated authority, rejected the proposal. You can read the council officers’ reasons for rejecting the proposal at www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Development/DAsOnExhibition/DASearch/AssocDocs.aspx?tpk=850814&dn=D/2007/1932. Given the possibility of a supermarket development within North Eveleigh, Darlington residents may also want to look at some of the material on the Village Friends’ website at www.erskinevillevillage.org.

Frasers Broadway Concept Plan & Artists Spaces DA

Frasers has lodged its modified concept plan for the CUB Broadway with the Department of Planning. An early exhibition consultation event will be held incorporating a Q&A session. Frasers Broadway has also lodged with council its DA to use three warehouses and five terraces as temporary artist's spaces in its Kensington Street properties as temporary artists spaces. Frasers will approach local artist cooperatives to seek expressions of interest for use of the studios.

GCA Building Gets Border

The signs on Redfern’s most noticeable buildings, the formally TNT Towers have changed over the past few months to carry the letters GCA to reflect the primary tenancy of Group Colleges Australia. A recent S96 DA modification MOD 024-12-07(1) for a border has been approved. As part of the recent changes the main entrance to Tower One is into Lawson Square providing much more shelter and an area for students to gather outside the building off the footpath. As you can see from www.gca.edu.au the influx in students brings demand for food and local services and will help strengthen the Redfern & Regent St shops.

Sustainable Sydney 2030 – Submissions Close Friday 30th May 2008

If you have had a look at the City of Sydney 2030 proposals and wish to comment on them it must be in by Friday 30th May when the formal exhibition closes. The City of Sydney's 2030 vision document is now also available in Chinese, Thai, Russian, Korean and Arabic on the City of Sydney's website: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/2030/ . REDWatch has earlier bought together references to the Redfern area on its website under Sustainable Sydney 2030.

Bourke Street Bikeway Consultation Extended -  until Friday 6th June 2008

The media has covered concerns raised about the proposed Bourke Street Cycleway project in Surry Hills that runs through Redfern from Zetland. Council has extended consultation until 6 June 2008. Information on the proposal can be found at Bourke Street Bicycle Route. Comments by writing to: Bourke Street Bicycle Route, City of Sydney, GPO Box 1591, Sydney NSW 2001; or to Fiona Lewis, Project Manager at bourkestreetcycleway@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au . You can also speak directly to David Robinson on 0419 615 806.

CDEP Discussion Paper - submissions by Thursday 12th June 2008.

Those who have an interest in increasing Indigenous economic opportunity may be interested to look at a Commonwealth discussion paper on the future of the CDEP and Indigenous Employment Programs - PDF (368kb). Unfortunately the one Sydney based consultation meeting had passed before we heard about it but submissions will be received up until 12 June 2008.

Senior First Aid Course – Starts 16th June 2008

Sydney Roosters are conducting a Senior First Aid Course in June at a reduced price as part of their “Commitment to the Local Community Program”. It’s an opportunity for community organisations to train staff or volunteers as the course is Work Cover Approved. The course is being run June 16, 18, 23, 25 and 30 commencing 6.00pm each evening at Sydney Roosters Football Office, Gold Members Car Park, Sydney Football Stadium, Driver Avenue, Moore Park (Free parking available). For further information, course fees and bookings contact Brian Sinclair on 8063 3826, 0412 604 246 or brians@sydneyroosters.com.au. The fee is $150, which includes all materials, resources, accreditation and meals and refreshments on each of the evenings.

International Association for Public Participation Community Engagement Course

Twyford Consulting which has been working for the ILC on the Redfern NIDC has been in contact to let us know about a five day certificate course in community engagement that it runs which was developed by the International Association for Public Participation (www.iap2.org.au). Twyford Consulting is running the course in Sydney in June. If you would like more information download the brochure.

Draft Darlington Chippendale Urban Design Study Soon

The Chippendale, Camperdown, Darlington, West Redfern and North Newtown Urban Design Study has recently been completed. The Planning, Development and Transport Committee considered a report noting the study's status at its meeting on Monday, 26 May 2008. The study is to be placed on Council's website to enable on-going, informal community consultation. It should soon appear here on the CoS website.

In the Media

The need for fenced playgrounds has been getting a run in the Central with the article Mums have their Say - Redfern mothers: our kids aren't safe in playgrounds and a letter from Council in the Letters to the Editor - Central 7 May 2008 (along with some MTV & noise letters). A couple of week’s later one of the mothers responded to the Council response in Redfern Playgrounds Kerfuffle.

The Central in Vital Aboriginal Services Face Financial Threat reported that Redfern Aboriginal Legal Service faces a service crisis without increased Commonwealth funding, while in Cooking up Dreams it looked at the RWA’s Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training College. Central also reported on the Balnaves Foundation Open House program in An Opera House for Everybody - Applause for $5 tickets.

In politics, Pooley gets Labor’s nod for Town Hall covered Tony Pooley’s endorsement by State Conference as ALP candidate for Lord Mayor. Liberal councillor Shane Mallard in Liberal lashes nod to Keating raised objection to council’s use of words from Keating’s Redfern speech in the new Redfern Park playground. Central also reported on the joint Council and NSW Government’s affordable housing announcement in Glebe to get 700 Affordable Units.

Souths have been in the news over the last couple of weeks since Sunday Telegraph of 18 May announced Holmes a Court to quit Souths. The SMH’s Souths coach berates Crowe also covered Council’s decision to approve the Redfern Oval lease to The Rabbitohs against some ongoing community opposition. In the process some clarifications on some of Souths’ earlier announcement came out including Souths drop $300,000 ahead of no-pokies poll on the poker machine question; Rabbitohs and Souths Cares Provide Answers on Souths Cares Funding on Souths Cares Aboriginal Employment programme funding and Power pair Russell Crowe and Robert Holmes a Court pumped $5m into Rabbitohs on the potential return on the owners on the Souths Leagues Club development.

May 2008 South Sydney Herald

As the South Sydney Herald was not out when we did the last update we are providing a belated summary for those who may not have already seen the SSH May 2008 issue (1.9 MB PDF). The May issue covered the CUB site revised concept plan in Frasers Broadway plan greener, bigger and the then pending RWA Concept Plan in Some concerns over plans for North Eveleigh. The Coloured Diggers March was covered in Unsung heroes remembered and honoured, Dreaming Man covered Gordon Syrons’ amazing art collection and Young Mob impresses at Youth Awards in Redfern covered the Betty Makin Youth Awards. Have you heard? - The fast news with Trevor Davies - May 2008 noted that SMH’s Good Living Supplement on Redfern did not include any establishments in Redfern and on the final birth of Balfour Park.  Lotus & Phoenix II looked at Indian and Chinese dance at the Redfern Community Centre. On a slightly broader canvas the South Sydney Herald reported Botany Road reopens, saga continues on Newtown’s homeless in focus. Redfern Resident, Elizabeth Farrelly, was interviewed about her new book in Blubberland & beyond and Redfern came out well in Alcohol-fuelled violence is worst in the City.

Have your say – Summary of Current Consultations

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