Kirketon Road extension draws substantial objections

The City of Sydney has received an overwhelming number of submissions opposing the proposal of a Kirketon Road Centre facility in Potts Point.

160 letters objecting the development application (DA) at 180 Victoria Street had been counted as of last week. Only 30 submissions of support had been received.

The Parents and Friends Committee at St Vincent’s Girls’ Catholic College were one part of the community that put forward an objection to the DA.

The committee is concerned that students who travel to school from Kings Cross Station will be forced to walk past the facility if the application is approved.  The centre will be open in the afternoon when the children finish school, with plans to operate the centre between 1:30pm and 10pm, Monday to Sunday.

Despite the promise of a security guard outside the premises, President of the Committee Donna Streater said they were worried the centre would offer a public needle room for people who inject drugs.

“The reservations we have is if there is going to be a needle exchange . . . we have been told there will not be a needle injecting area,” Mrs Streater said.

The SESLHN said that while the new service will provide sterile injecting equipment, the main role of the centre will be to provide health care to strip-club-based sex workers in the Kings Cross area.

However, the community is still concerned about the type of people the facility will attract.  Grant Don Wan Demarco is co-owner of Coco Bar Espresso, a café directly opposite the proposed site.  He is alarmed that school children will walk past the centre on a daily basis .

“They’ll be walking smack bang in front of undesirables that use the facility,’ Mr Don Wan Demarco said.  “There are enough other places around where it could go.”

Local resident Kristen Westwood recently wrote to Federal the Member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull, to ask him to object the proposal.

“I’m concerned about the safety of people walking to and from their homes,” Ms Westwood said.

“I don’t object the facility, just where it is.  It should be located on a main street that’s busy all the time, not in a residential area.”

The SESLHN submitted the DA to council after consultation with community stakeholders, including the principal of St Vincent’s College Fay Gurr, Sydney Liberal candidate Adrian Bartels and Labour candidate Sacha Blumen.  Submissions closed Monday April 9.

The DA is currently being assessed by Council.

An expected date on the decision has not yet been released.

by Lisa Brougham