BY KENJI SATO
Redfern residents say they were given only one day to voice their concerns over an amended Development Application (DA), after the physical documents were found to be missing.
The documents for 52-54 Pitt Street were supposed to be on public display for 28 days, giving residents time to send submissions.
The building has been the subject of a long-standing feud between developers, who want to turn the heritage listed warehouse building into apartments and the Redfern Society, a community group who oppose the “overdevelopment and desecration of Redfern heritage”.
Previous DA’s for 52-54 Pitt Street have been rejected by City of Sydney Council, but a recently approved DA had received amendments.
The City of Sydney Planning officer informed Redfern residents by letter that the amended DA would be on public exhibition at the Council’s Redfern and CBD offices, and that residents could voice concerns and send submissions until 5 January.
But when the President of the Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society, Andrew Woodhouse, went to view the DA, it was nowhere to be found.
“They looked furiously, the manager, the town planner and the desk clerk. They went through every cupboard, every filing cabinet, and it was not in the shop,” Mr Woodhouse told City Hub.
“A lot of people are very angry, and they’re very confused because prior to that the City Planner sent out a letter to residents saying ‘this is an amended DA and you’ll have a chance to come to council and talk about it’. But that’s completely incorrect.”
Mr Woodhouse contacted the council, and the DA was made available on Monday evening, 4 January, and removed the following day, 5 January.
Convenor of the Redfern Society, Donna-May Bolinger told City Hub that she was “furious” at the turn of events.
“The new application is essentially only going to be exhibited for one day, which is totally inadequate. It’s a complex DA and it needs to be viewed publically, not online.”
“Many people are out of town still, so it’s a huge disadvantage. What’s they’re doing has limited our opportunity to even see what they have planned, which is contrary to fairness. They need to advertise for another 28 to allow the community to have access to the process.”
“It’s discriminatory against the community at large and objectors in particular. Nobody would see that as fair play.”
Andrew Woodhouse told City Hub that the planning process has been “clearly dysfunctional”, and said that he is calling on the council to reissue the amended DA with 28 days notice and make it available at their Redfern office.
Correction: The City of Sydney Council put the DA back up on public exhibition on Wednesday. Residents can view the documents at both the Redfern and CBD council offices until 22 January.
