Clover gives ground in ‘the battle at El Alamein’
In a surprise Mayoral Minute at Monday’s council meeting, Clover Moore made a face-saving about-turn on plans to redevelop Fitzroy Gardens in Kings Cross, putting the project on hold pending further public consultation.
Ms Moore had been stonewalling a storm of protest including a petition that has now reached 3,000 signatures, a big public rally in the Gardens, a co-ordinated website-facebook-YouTube presence and hundreds of emails to councillors.
On the other hand she faced robust defence of the project from Council staff and Hill Thalis, the second firm of architects to be appointed for the approximately $10 million project.
At Council, Cr Phillip Black implied that staff had misled by withholding heritage and arborist reports from councillors, who eventually heard about them only after protesters extracted them from staff and broadcast their contents.
The reports revealed that Fitzroy Gardens are heritage-listed, and that many more trees and plantings were set for the chop than the four being touted by staff. The iconic central Port Jackson Fig and Chinese Elm were also at risk from the major construction work proposed.
Last week staff held a briefing session for councillors. Cr Chris Harris had invited two Kings Cross residents, but he said council staff would not allow it. At the briefings, it is understood that Cr Black had angrily opposed the project along with opposition councillors while fellow Clover councillor John McInerney, who had faced an angry crowd at the rally, now saw merit in the existing layout of the Gardens.
Architect Colin Thalis and staff defended his firm’s design and attacked heritage arguments put forward by the Friends of Fitzroy Gardens, who say the 1970 design of the current Gardens by Australia’s first landscape architect, Ilmar Berzins, is highly significant, quoting support from expert opinion.
But, according to Cr Harris, Mr Thalis and council staff had been “mirthful” at the idea, saying that an ordinary council landscape architect had been “elevated to sainthood” by protesters, and that nobody was interested in 1970s heritage.
Cr Harris proposed that two more public meetings be held. Fellow Greens Councillor Irene Doutney agreed, saying the consultation to date had been like “slick market research” in which people could respond only to questions put to them.
Cr Meredith Burgmann (Labor) asked Ms Moore if her proposal for extended consultation involved public meetings, and asked whether Council was already locked into a contract with Hill Thalis. There was no response to that.
Clover Councillors opposed further public meetings, Cr Black saying he already had a large file of messages from the community that made their views clear.
However there was general agreement for plans to recycle storm water from the Gardens as the El Alamein Fountain was not water-efficient.
Cr Shayne Mallard (Liberal) continued his support for a more minor upgrade to Fitzroy Gardens including repaving.
Friends of Fitzroy Gardens warned that the battle was not over, fearing that council staff could still find ways to marginalise community views and progress the project in a different form.
by Michael Gormly
