Italian charity Co.As.It at the centre of Leichhardt’s little Italy woes

By KATELYN MILLIGAN

The Italian-Australian charity entrusted with reinvigorating Sydney’s deserted Italian Forum has run just six public events this year, despite promising 78 in its successful bid to then-Leichhardt Council in 2014, as venue hire costs in the precinct skyrocket, pricing out interested parties.

Co.As.It, the not-for-profit community organisation that owns the forum’s cultural centre, charges the precinct’s 72 small businesses and commercial units a collective ‘promotional levy’ of $60,000 for promotion and cultural activities.

But there has been little to promote.

In 2019, the charity facilitated eight public events in the cultural centre. In 2022, there were four. As of August 4, there have been six: four movie nights and two concerts hosted by Co.As.It.

In 2020 and 2021, events were disrupted by COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing restrictions laws. Only one event – self-funded and organised by a lot owner – was held in 2021. But Co.As.It demanded the levies be paid all the same.

The charity’s business plan stipulates that it intended to “revitalise the Forum through increased utilisation of the facilities”, which comprise a 365-seat theatre, multipurpose function room, gallery and bar area. The plan detailed weekly open-air markets, monthly family entertainment events, bi-annual Italian trade fairs and monthly open-air theatre events.

In 2022, the Forum’s BMC (Building Management Committee) requested Co.As.It reveals how the promotional levy was being spent. The charity used its votes to reject the motion.

“Co.As.It confirms that all funds levied and paid in accordance with…the SMS (Strata Management Statement) have been handled in accordance with those provisions,” Co.As.It said in a letter to the committee.

“A request or requirement to provide a reconciliation to the BMC falls outside of its powers.”

The downfall of a cultural icon

Some of the forum’s business owners argue that Co.As.It’s failure to deliver on the promised events breaches the covenant: a legally binding agreement between the Crown and the Italian Forum. The covenant stipulates that the owners of the forum’s cultural centre must prioritise public accessibility to the site, facilitate “cultural and similar activities” and manage maintenance to ensure its enduring success.

“If there’s foot traffic, there is business…there’s no foot traffic whatsoever,” said Gina Di Francesco, owner of Italian restaurant La Giara that has been at the Forum for more than two decades.

​​“Oh, It’s a struggle. It’s an everyday struggle…everybody’s struggling.

“When they have a performance there, my business goes up by 50% on that weekend. So I can imagine if the covenant was adhered to…our business would be in a different position today,” she said.

In 1999, Gina bought into a cultural treasure – gifted to the Italian community in 1988 by then-NSW premier Neville Wran – that recognised Italian’s contribution to Australian society; many of whom had migrated to Leichhardt after the Second World War.  At its height, it was a lively destination for dining, entertainment, shopping and culture.

In 2022, a business owner from the forum wrote to then-minister for customer service and digital, Victor Dominello. The letter asked for “demonstration of compliance with the public positive covenant on the land,” in relation to ongoing maintenance of the premise and promised cultural and community events.

Mr Dominello responded: “Having considered the information provided by Co.As.It, and the Actors Centre Australia, I am convinced that there are suitable mechanisms in place for ensuring that the premises are used for cultural and community activities, and are kept in good repair and condition.”

Actors Centre Australia (ACA), the acting school that has rented the cultural centre since 2013, is obligated to host cultural events in the theatre as per their tenancy agreement. Despite this, they also don’t have access to details of how the annual $60,000 levy is spent.

Since purchasing the forum’s cultural centre in 2014, Co.As.It has collected an estimated $480,000 in promotional levies.

Restricted community access

ACA founder and director Dean Carey has suggested a joint committee be established with representatives from across the forum to improve transparency with respect to the promotional levy.

He said the money could fund up to 12 heavily subsidised or free community-led events per year, ensuring community access to the cultural centre and state-of-the-art theatre, whilst increasing foot traffic to the area.

“We were completely committed to holding as many functions as possible to contribute to the culture of the community. That’s what our focus was [when we signed the lease],” Carey said.

“If there was funding for it (community events), it’d be free. Free access when possible…people have been complaining for, I don’t know how long, about no one using it, and that they can’t get access to the site because there’s no funding. And I think that is the key point.”

In its business plan, Co.As.It promised it would promote break-even and subsidised events, yet venue hire prices have elevated to the extent that many community groups have been priced out.

“Co.As.It will make the facilities at the Centre available to not-for-profit organisations on a cost basis,” the charity stated in its 2014 business plan, while making the “centre’s facilities available at no cost to community organisations and groups not able to pay.”

By 2019, the Balmain Sinfonia, which used to perform four concerts per year at the theatre, could no longer afford to rent the space.

“Initially when the orchestra moved to the venue, the rental and hiring costs were affordable. Over a short space of time the charges rose from around $1000 to $1800 then to over $3000 per hire,” a Balmain Sinfonia spokesperson said.

Annie Macarthur, director of local not-for-profit youth theatre Epiphany Arts Inc., said the charity has consistently faced financial and logistical barriers while attempting to access space.

“Look, if you’ve got the money, you could get in there. They (ACA) want it to be a corporate space… They certainly don’t want to make it accessible to the community.”

An uncertain future

In March 2023, Co.As.It sold the property for $11 million to private property developer Redstone, for a profit of $8.2 million.

Co.as.it operates under three names – Co.As.It. Community Services Ltd, CO.AS.IT.  – Italian Assistance Association and CO AS IT Italian Association Of Assistance – with a combined total revenue of more than $74 million in the last financial year.

“As part of the sale agreement, vendor Co.As.It (The Italian Association of Assistance) will remain involved in the future of the Italian Forum, to provide guidance on a development masterplan and placemaking vision,” Co.As.It said in a statement on 31 March 2023.

The piazza “will remain publicly accessible” while Co.As.It will retain access to the cultural centre for “20 days per year for cultural use and activations… to maintain its cultural presence through community events and activities.”

There is no mention of plans to ensure the cultural centre remains accessible to the broader public.

In discussing the reason for the sale, Co.As.It stated: “The Italian Forum had become difficult to manage and for reasons outside our control the precinct has seen a significant drop in patronage.”

Questions were put to Co.As.It about the sale and how the promotional levy has been spent but they did not respond.

Despite the uncertain future, Gina Di Francesco is hopeful that the new owner will revive the forum and help her restaurant survive.

“I’m not going to go anywhere soon. I’m going to hang on. We’re fighters, and I believe that it will pick up again,” said Di Francesco.

“It was the talk of the town. It’s an icon. We can’t let it go… There is nothing in Australia quite like it.”

Additional reporting and editing by Aston Brown.