Heated clash over inner city kids’ facilities

Changing demographics in inner Sydney sparked fierce debate on Monday night when parents calling for more childcare services and playgrounds clashed with opponents at a City of Sydney Council Committee Meeting.

Several hundred people crammed into the Council chamber for the meeting on proposed facilities for children in Darlinghurst and Kings Cross.

Many were local parents who brought young children with them, creating unprecedented scenes at Town Hall as crying babies competed with speakers for attention, and toddlers played at the feet of councillors.

Heated debate ensued when the City of Sydney proposal to sell public land to the KU Frances Newtown Preschool at 222 Palmer St, Darlinghurst was tabled.

The project would see the current preschool redeveloped into a larger childcare centre, with an increase in capacity from 23 to 68 children.

It would also swallow up the eastern end of Berwick Lane, the John Birt Memorial Playground, a pedestrian thoroughfare connecting Berwick Lane with Bourke St, and another building at 277 Bourke St.

Supporters of the plan claimed the loss of a public street, walkway and the ‘pocket park’ was essential to meet the needs of a growing demographic of young families in the area.

“We are part of a major demographic shift … of parents who have chosen to stay or who have moved into the inner city,” local mother of two, Claudia Bowman told the meeting.

“A cleaner, greener, more pedestrian-friendly City of Sydney has allowed us to do this.”

Ms Bowman said the lane was not being taken away but “being activated” – a claim hotly disputed by a number of locals, including Lawrence Gibbons, local resident and President of the 2010 Darlinghurst Surry Hills Business Partnership.

Mr Gibbons, who is also publisher of this newspaper, slammed the proposal “to close off an historic pedestrian walkway dating back to the earliest days of white settlement so that students attending a fee-paying institute can play in what was once a public street”.

Other residents expressed fears about noise, traffic problems, security and loss of amenity – however all agreed that more childcare options were needed in the area.

The next item tabled inflamed similar passions, with many of the same people speaking for or against a proposed playground in the historic Fitzroy Gardens, Kings Cross.

Famous local residents were among the participants, with actor David Wenham, and writers Louis Nowra and Mandy Sayer speaking out.

Mr Wenham, a Potts Point resident and father of a nine-year-old daughter, said he wished he could bottle his daughter’s delight when she had learned of the playground plan.

“Currently, we have to go down to Rushcutters Bay or get in the car and drive somewhere for her to play,” he said, pointing out that most local residents were apartment-dwellers with no access to outdoor play areas.

However, Mr Nowra said the “beautiful, feminine, organic” design of Fitzroy Gardens would be compromised by the playground.

“Refresh [Fitzroy Gardens] like a canvas; restore it like a painting,” urged Mr Nowra, who compared the current plan to “putting your fist through a beautiful painting”.

Dr Sayer accused Lord Mayor Clover Moore of breaking a promise to “leave Fitzroy Gardens alone”, and alleged a lack of community consultation.

Liberal Councillor Christine Forster and Living Sydney councillor Angela Vithoulkas agreed more consultation was needed, while Greens Councillor Irene Doutney backed a plan by Potts Point Partnership Chairman Adrian Bartels for a mediator to be appointed.

However, the Lord Mayor said: “I don’t believe a children’s playground is a thing of division; a children’s playground should be a thing of cohesion.”

Ms Moore recommended Council proceed with the planned playground. The motion was carried, with only Crs Forster and Vithoulkas voting against her.

The fate of the Darlinghurst childcare centre will be decided next Monday.