Chippendale calls for consultation

Chippendale calls for consultation
Image: An artists impression of the project.

By Emily Contador-Kelsall

 

The Chippendale Residents’ Interest Group have attacked UrbanGrowth NSW, saying “meaningful consultation” is not happening with the Central to Eveleigh corridor project.

The community group wrote an open letter to the NSW Minister for Planning, Rob Stokes, after learning of a community panel that was selected to attend “workshops and briefings organised by UrbanGrowth.” The community panel appeared to exclude community representatives and groups, who the group says were not invited to participate on the panel.

The Chippendale Residents Interest Group wrote to Mr Stokes seeking his “urgent assistance” to ensure appropriate consultation would take place.

“While community engagement can take various forms, evidence shows a robust and joint collaborative strategic planning process delivers better outcomes for large and complex projects,” the letter reads.

“As such, focus groups are not considered a substitute for quality consultation.”

A spokesperson for UrbanGrowth NSW said the 40 members of the Community Panel were randomly selected from “a range of age groups and suburbs to serve as a ‘mini public,’” and a range of upcoming activities would be open to everyone.

Jeanette Brockman, convenor of the Better Planning Network addressed the City of Sydney Planning and Development Committee last week in response to a report the City tabled over the Central to Eveleigh corridor. Ms Brockman spoke of community concerns towards the engagement process for several of UrbanGrowth’s projects including the Central to Eveleigh corridor and the Bays Precinct.

“Specifically, the wider community is still in the dark about plans for Central to Eveleigh, 21 months after the Government announced the project,” Ms Brockman said.

“While we have learnt today that the community panel for the C2E [Central to Eveleigh] project is considered by UrbanGrowth as a deliberative process, no strategy or detailed community consultation program has been made available; nor have community groups been invited to provide feedback prior to the workshops so this can be considered.”

The first workshop involving the community panel was held on April 18 and participants were paid $150 to attend. This payment was “a $150 gift card stipend for participating in each full day workshop,” the UrbanGrowth spokesperson said.

The Central to Eveleigh land and rail corridor is a 20 to 30 year project, and according to the Department of Planning and Environment’s website, the corridor extends for approximately three kilometres from Goulburn Street car park in the CBD to Macdonaldtown station. This area includes Central and Redfern stations, the Australian Technology Park and Eveleigh Rail yards and covers approximately 80 hectares.

Late last year, REDWatch, a residents’ group covering Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo, also wrote a letter to UrbanGrowth concerning community engagement after several members of the community were disappointed by its consultation.

When City Hub contacted the Minster for Planning’s office for a response to the letter, our enquiry was directed to UrbanGrowth NSW who supplied details for upcoming community engagement activities and said there will continue to be “a lot of ways to get involved and stay up to date.”

The Chippendale Residents Interest Group learnt of the community panel and workshops due to their own enquiries, not through information distributed by UrbanGrowth NSW.

The spokesperson for UrbanGrowth said upcoming community engagement, much of which is set to take place throughout May, would be promoted through advertisements, in local papers, e-newsletters and a letter drop box.

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