Central to Eveleigh consultation still “challenging”

By Jessica Yun

UrbanGrowth NSW’s latest round of consultation for their Central to Eveleigh Transformation project began last week but controversy over plans and transparency continues to surface among the community.

The ‘study night’ last week was the first of a series focused on green space, preserving diverse community services, school capacities and explaining jargon within documents.

Geoffrey Turnbull, spokesperson for resident group REDWatch attended the study night. He said that while he “didn’t have huge problems with the session”, there were key voices missing from the discussion including human services.

Mr Turnbull was also concerned over the lack of material available before the discussion, the short notice of the date of the study night, and what he regarded as a typical fault of governments failing to mention facts and figures because “they think it might upset some people.”

Other residents expressed concerns about the Central to Eveleigh project moving in a direction where community assets were pushed out, economic and business activity increasing and turning the surrounding areas into a “damn tourist centre in the middle of a park.”

UrbanGrowth NSW Program Director Troy Daly told City Hub that the evening’s discussion was “challenging”. He said the main point he took away was that “it’s not just about housing diversity, it’s about service diversity, and it’s obviously a key message we’ve been getting back lately”.

“Things need to be explained simply and concisely, not in consultant’s words, and we need to be better on our definitions when we talk about open space,” Mr Daly said.

The second study group was held recently at Darlington’s Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training Centre with a focus on heritage sites, and the following week will deliver further discussions on housing diversity.