Letter

The Italian resistance

BE IT KNOWN! A nasty precedent has been set for the use of any residential-zoned street in the City of Sydney for a commercial event without prior notice in writing to the people who live there. In this case, the 2B Residential Zoning applies to Riley Street, East Sydney a.k.a. Darlinghurst. The commercial event is Primo Italiano.

After 23 days of failed appeal to The Lord Mayor, Councillors, Events Team, a Director of Planning and Regulatory Services, CEO and formal objection to a flawed Development Application (D.A), a letter was delivered to objectors by an Events Program Manager. ‘Council told me to do this’, she said. Signed by a Creative Director/Producer Events colleague, the letter constituted the first written notice that Primo was to take place on our doorsteps. ‘The D.A. has now been approved’ the letter read. It went on to list a few token ameliorative measures. The question of zoning abuse and precedent raised in our objections were ignored.

The official planners report is ‘in the post’. It is too late, we’ve been advised, for us to take out an injunction to prevent the expansion. Now we must don our guerrilla suits and prepare for the invasion of 35,000 plus people.

With consultation, notification, and representation dead, and zoning abuse the planners art form of the decade, community activism must thrive. Long live the resistance!

George and Charis Schwarz, East Sydney