City under fire for amending parklands plan
Image: Johnstons Creek Parklands in Annandale / Photo: Vanessa Bartlett
Community uproar over the City of Sydney’s draft master plan for the Johnstons Creek Parklands in Annandale has prompted Council to admit “errors” in the public consultation process.
City of Sydney Deputy Mayor Robyn Kemmis moved an amendment on Monday night proposing a vastly improved public consultation and feedback process. The amendment was unanimously approved by Council.
“We took note last week that in fact there were some errors in [the master plan],” said Ms Kemmis. “There is an issue for me in relation to clarity in some cases. The current amendment will address that and will address errors.”
A community information session will now be held, feedback will be requested from residents on “priority projects” at Johnstons Creek and two panels explaining the master plan will now be erected at the parklands.
“A lot of questions have been raised and we have to listen to those,” said Ms Kemmis. “We have to listen to the history of Leichhardt [Council] and the intention of past actions.
“We’ve been asked to change the recommendations on what should be needed. We’ve had advice about contamination on the site and we’ve had a letter from the Leichhardt Mayor [Darcy Byrne].”
Created by consultants from the City of Sydney’s Environment Committee, Council’s draft master plan has been widely criticised for failing to address issues of contamination and use of green space.
Former Leichhardt Mayor Maire Sheehan said problems have arisen with the plan’s definition of the Johnstons Creek Parkland’s development for “community use and open space”, not “green open space” as was originally planned for more than twenty years by Leichhardt Council. The land became part of the City of Sydney when council borders changed in 2003.
This extended definition means the City of Sydney will be able to build facilities for community uses using existing infrastructure at the site.
“The consultants are in complete ignorance,” said Ms Sheehan. “They are coming up with ideas but have no idea about the community and planning history of Bicentennial Park Stage Three.
“Councillors are being pushed into making decisions without full information about the implications. For example, you can’t put a childcare centre into an asbestos-ridden building on a highly contaminated, aged site.”
A further problem identified under the City of Sydney’s plan is the lack of a clear timetable for redevelopment. The plan itself identifies June 2013 as the deadline for the final draft of the master plan, but does not provide a deadline for commencement.
Helen Matthews, a co-ordinator of the original master plan for Bicentennial Park in the 1990s, said residents of the Leichhardt area and local groups had repeatedly tried to find out the rationale for the delay.
“We have been trying to get an answer from the City of Sydney Council for 10 years. The City of Sydney inherited the Crescent land and buildings in 2003 via a boundary change. Since then they have collected the rent,” she said.
“We want stage three of the park completed. The City of Sydney must respect the ratepayers and residents of Leichhardt who have built this waterfront park over three decades now.”
By Tom Neale
