Park upgrade puts markets at risk

by Michael Gormly
A long history of charitable work is under threat from unpopular City of Sydney plans to makeover Fitzroy Gardens, site of the El Alamein Fountain in Kings Cross.

The Gardens are also the site of two weekend markets, with Sundays hosting the Rotary markets over the past 25 years. The markets provide most of Kings Cross Rotary’s income, which in turn is dispersed each year on significant projects helping key local charities.

But the planned makeover, which will last most of 2010, will force both markets to relocate or cease altogether. Rotarians and stallholders say there are no other suitable locations nearby, and closing down for a year makes a re-launch near impossible.

‘It happened in Bondi Junction,’ said Michael Brown, president of Kings Cross Rotary Club.

‘The council decided to change the Mall which meant shutting down the Market. But all the stallholders and customers found other outlets and by the time the work was finished, the impetus had gone.’

Elizabeth Taylor, promoter of the Saturday Farmers Markets in Kings Cross, was also apprehensive.

‘Once you lose continuity it’s really hard to get started again,’ she said.

‘I’m concerned about the community aspect. People have taken the market to heart ‘ it gets people out of their little boxes where they can meet and relax.’

She agreed some aspects of the gardens needed improvement but was concerned that a total rebuild would be ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater.’

Council has received wide criticism over its consultation process. At the first public meeting the budget, and therefore the scope of works, had been decided and the designers appointed before the public had any say. There was little justification offered for the upgrade apart from ‘broken and cracked pavers’ which in fact have now been repaired, and a general assumption that ‘new is better’ and ‘all change is good’.

At that meeting the largest indentifiable bloc of residents’ comments were opposed to the plans or wanted only minimal improvements. Comments such as ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and ‘No more grey granite’ were written on the post-it notes provided. The section devoted to ‘What you like about the park’ attracted a huge number of comments while the ‘Don’t like’ section was more sparse, featuring many comments about the Ibis bird-plague and even one complaining about the noise from the Fountain.

No specific plans were put forward to deal with the ubiquitous Ibis and their droppings.

At the second public meeting the bloc of opinion wanting little change had been ignored; the crowd was told that ‘all upgrades involve a complete repaving’, and three design options were presented including one ‘ clearly favoured by Council’s planners ‘ that entailed moving the giant Ficus (Fig) tree, the centrepiece of the gardens.

‘No-one wants to see the big tree moved,’ said Ms Taylor.

Planners at the meeting said management of both markets had been consulted. But enquiries at the markets produced a blank.

Mr Brown said Council Planners had spoken to him in general about the upgrade but he had not been given an opportunity to comment on the design or the schedule of works.

‘All it needs is a few tiles fixed and then leave it alone,’ he said.

Ms Taylor was also unaware of any ideas for relocating the markets or a transition plan, despite two meetings with council planners. ‘There is very little if any suitable open space elsewhere in Kings Cross,’ she said.

Plans to install more electrical outlets for stallholders, improve the children’s playground and re-grass the lawn area could be done with minimal impact on the markets.

How Rotary helps locals
Kings Cross Rotary Club has helped several local institutions: Six GPS Satellite Navigation units went to St Vincent’s Ambulances, and one to Darlinghurst Fire Brigade; A $10,000 gift subsidised a van for the Wayside Chapel, and KX Rotary held a socks, knickers and towel drive for their homeless clients; St Johns, Darlinghurst received a small grant for retraining homeless people, and also a dishwasher for their Rough Edges cafe which often feeds up to 80 people a night; The Salvation Army’s SOS youth street patrol, which reunites young people with their families, was helped; Each year Rotary awards a ‘Pride of workmanship’ award to a local worker who has gone above and beyond their call of duty; and Rotary awards education scholarships through schools.

The club, which now incorporates the former East Sydney branch, is open to all professional or business men and women and meets Monday evenings 6.30-8pm at the Holiday Inn, Victoria Street, Potts Point. Contact: email kxrotary@hotmail.com.

Other nearby Rotary Clubs are based in Sydney City, Double Bay, Marrickville and Sydney Inner West (meeting at Camperdown).