Standing up, but not counting
We don’t count.
That’s what the residents of Rosebery have been told by our local council. We don’t count, despite 1,100 local resident and local business signatures on a petition against the location of a garbage truck depot (consolidating three other works depots) next to residential, commercial and light industrial (including food storage) in Rosebery. We don’t count, because the total population of our local area (less than 4,000 people including children, and a high percentage of English as a second language residents) doesn’t stack up against the 150,000 other people Council represents. We don’t count, because we are the last bastion of low-density, low-rise residential area (with pockets of apartments on the outskirts) within the City of Sydney Council area. How dare we choose to live in a detached house within the City of Sydney.
While garbage truck depots may exist near residential in Ultimo and Woolloomooloo, the depots have been there for decades. Residents moved into those areas knowing that was the case, or had little choice due to the prominence of public housing in the immediate area. However, the proposed Rosebery garbage truck depot is different because it is new – it’s not something that has been there for decades. Many of the local residents in the immediate area have lived there for more than 50 years. My neighbours moved into their house, opposite the proposed garbage truck depot, in 1941.
Our local action group has proposed alternative, community-friendly uses for the site and compromises on the work depot activities – but these have been ignored. Council’s proposal goes against its own strategic review recommendations to negotiate for the RTA-owned Burrows Road site, an alternative site in the Alexandria Industrial Area or a redevelopment of the existing Epsom Road depot. Instead, Council officers continue to push for an unpalatable solution for local residents, local businesses and the local school community. After all, we don’t count, we just have to live with the outfall of the largest urban renewal project in Australia.
Samantha Gardner-Wade, Rosebery
There’s still time
In relation to your story about the Environmental Assessment for the CBD Metro (‘Metro rolls onward, but questions remain unanswered’, September 24) – we are actively encouraging people to look through the assessment and to have their say.
All of the relevant information is easily accessible via our website – www.sydneymetro.nsw.gov.au – and laid out for easy navigation.
Put simply, the Environmental Assessment reviews the challenges and benefits provided by metro, and sets out the strategies to deliver metro rail to Sydney.
All the relevant material is on the website – have a read, and have your say!
Rodd Staples, Acting Chief Executive, Sydney Metro
