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Redfern-Waterloo re-development
The NSW Government has taken control of planning and
development in Redfern--Waterloo, an area with many Aboriginal residents
and significant Aboriginal land holdings centred around The Block.
The NSW Government intends to revitalise the Redfern-Waterloo area through planning, redevelopment and urban renewal.
Its Redfern-Waterloo Plan will be created by the new Minister for Redfern-Waterloo, Frank Sartor and will include redevelopment proposals and strategies on infrastructure, jobs and human services. The balance of human needs and corporate property/investment sector priorities is at stake; the latter want a new commercial hub close to the Sydney CBD as well as major residential redevelopment.
There is a clear threat to affordable housing in the area. On 11 March 2005 the Financial Review reported Property Council of Australia (NSW) executive director, Ken Morrison as saying, “There is no way that Redfern is going to be that commercial mini-centre with Aboriginal housing and the Block still in place. We need to sort that out before any private investors will be interested.”
Some key Indigenous issues are:
- The future of The Block precinct, a main area of Aboriginal housing;
- Housing issues for Indigenous people elsewhere in the area;
- Ensuring Indigenous voices are heard effectively in public consultations;
- Ensuring Indigenous needs are met in the Plan.
The Government has started discussions with the Aboriginal Housing Company which has its own plan for The Block, called The Pemulwuy Project. The AHC is not satisfied with discussions so far, and has appointed its own Pemulwuy Vision Task Force, chaired by Tom Uren (former Federal Minister responsible for some of the most innovative urban planning schemes of the 1970s) to provide an independent professional assessment.
People wishing to support the Indigenous community on the redevelopment should be aware that there are varied Aboriginal views about The Block’s future. One way of generally supporting a strong continued Aboriginal presence on The Block, would be to write to the Premier, Minister Sartor and Minster Refshauge, urging them to ensure the inclusion of The Pemulwuy Project (with any AHC Taskforce amendments) as a lead option for all consultations with Aboriginal people about the future of The Block.
A new organisation, the Redfern Organisation of Aboriginal Unity, can be contacted at PO Box 1103 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 or phone 8394 9666. The ROAU is made up of the Aboriginal Children’s Service, Aboriginal Housing Company, Aboriginal Medical Service, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, Mudgin-Gal (Women’s Service), Murrawina Ltd (Childcare), the Sydney Regional Aboriginal Corporation Legal Service, the Tribal Warrior Association, and Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care.
