The City of Sydney is proposing changes to Henderson Road. The consultation process ends on 4 March and you are strongly encouraged to have your say and provide feedback on the changes which include:
The extension of the cycle path along Henderson Road from the entrance to South Eveleigh (formerly known as Technology Park) all the way to Botany Road
Removal of 14 untimed parking spots on Henderson Road between Garden Street and the existing Henderson Road cycle way
Removal of at least 20 untimed parking spots on Henderson Road between Garden Street and Wyndham Street due to the cycle way
Installation of a new cycle path on Raglan Street from Cope Street all the way to George Street (close to the public housing)
Removal of over 30 parking spots on both sides of Raglan Street from Cope Street to George Street
Closure of car access to the street between the Abbot Hotel and the Waterloo Metro (cycle and bus access only)
The plan includes the installation of trees and greening along the cycle ways.
2. Post your submission to: City Engagement City of Sydney GPO Box 1591 Sydney NSW 2000
3. COS Website – log on to the City of Sydney website and use the interactive map. If you don’t have a logon, creating one is easy.
It’s important to provide your feedback. The Council counts the number of participants for and against the proposal to make its decision – so make a submission and tell your friends and neighbours about it!
While we applaud the State Government’s attempt to improve the much needed supply of housing, we believe that the approach they are using is ill conceived as it does not take into account the density of existing suburbs, but applies a one-size all approach that will lead to catastrophic outcomes for suburbs like Alexandria.
In addition, the proposal is based on shaky evidence provided by the NSW Productivity Commission about density.
“Compared with other leading global cities, Sydney has low-density inner suburbs. Manhattan, the inner boroughs of London, and most districts of Paris are far denser than inner Sydney. Even inner areas of Melbourne and Brisbane have considerably higher population density than Sydney’s inner suburbs.” NSW Productivity Commission Building more homes where people want to live 2023
The density of inner Sydney is comparable to many international cities and does not have a low population density. Inner Sydney (inner 10km2 and 20km2) is denser than inner London, Melbourne, and Brisbane; and most leading global cities named by the Productivity Commission. This ‘evidence’ is misleading and not based on fact.
Please make a submission to the Department of Planning
We urge you to review the material and to provide your feedback to the Department of Planning by this Friday 23 February 2024 via their portal:
The ARAG Committee has reviewed the proposed changes and believes the main issues are as follows:
Alexandria is already a high density suburb – with 1,540 people per square kilometre. Greater Sydney has 429 people per square kilometre so we are already 3.5 times denser!
It is inappropriate to propose blanket height and density increases across most of the Local Government Area without properly considering local conditions, amenity and heritage impacts, and the increased demand for infrastructure and services.
We are already heavily impacted by the increased density of Green Square and what will be built near the Metro station at Waterloo as well as other developments that are already in progress (Mitchell Road, Ashmore Estate and proposed changes to Explorer Street public housing).
Our schools are full and hospitals are already over capacity and this is before developments that are already in train (Waterloo housing, Green Square) are completed
The proposal does not take into account the fact that our roads are already choked with existing traffic caused by the number of current residents and the fact that our streets are a thoroughfare for cars, trucks and commercial vehicles coming from the South and travelling to the city and surrounding areas.
The developments that are already in progress (Mitchell Road, Ashmore Estate and proposed changes to Explorer Street public housing) will have significant impact on the number of movements in and around Alexandria and add to the significant congestion in both peak and off peak periods. The proposal will add further significant density which cannot be supported.
The proposals have been rushed without working with Local Government and without releasing the State’s new housing targets. This is policy on the run.
This proposal is on top of already proposed changes to provide 30% height and floor space bonuses for development that includes 15% Affordable Housing and it is only required to be Affordable Housing for 15 years.
This means that where the government proposed 6 story height limit within 400m of transport would be increased to 7-8 storeys if affordable housing was proposed. In addition, we believe that affordable housing should be locked in for ever – not just for 15 years.
The proposal mean the City will not be able to refuse an application on the basis of height and floor space if it meets those standards even if the negative impacts to the community are significant.
The proposed increases to height and floor space may conflict with Council policies including master planning and heritage provisions. These conflicts will lead to appeals and inevitably slow down housing developments.
The proposed changes to the Apartment Design Guide, which will lead to more apartments with less amenity, such as sunlight, privacy and landscaping.
Examples of what the changes could look like in practice
The City of Sydney has provided some mockups of what these changes could mean using examples in our LGA (but not Alexandria).
Example 1 – Erskineville – worst case scenario
Current – Single storey dwellings – Conservation area small lots – Retain front room – build out the back on two adjoining sites
Proposed – 3:1 and 6-8 stories – overshadow neighbours – separation + privacy – compromises heritage values – more cars, more bins, less trees chaotic outcome
Example 2
Current: – 2.5:1 base FSR – used as commercial creative offices – currently occupied – not far from light rail station – not heritage listed – narrow footpaths
Proposed: – 3:1 + affordable housing bonus + 0.9:1 – 6 or 8-9 storeys (AH) high (21m-34m) – narrow street and footpaths with street bins (no basement pickup) and additional cars – loss of solar access to neighbours – few, if any, private trees
Example 3 – Surry Hills – corner Devonshire and Riley Streets
Current: – 2.5:1 base FSR – used as commercial offices – currently empty and offered for rent – adjacent to light rail station – not heritage listed
Proposed: – 3:1 (+ affordable housing bonus of 0.9) – 6 or 8 storeys (AH) high (21m-28m) – little to no overshadowing – few, if any, private trees possible – communal open space on roof top
You may be aware of our campaigns to ensure barrier-free access to the new southern concourse at Redfern station, and to build a new pedestrian bridge to connect South Eveleigh and North Eveleigh.
We’d love it if you could help by making a submission to those responsible. It won’t take long and we know from experience that individual submissions carry the most weight.
Please copy & paste the text below, modify it as you see fit, or even write your own. The easiest way is to use the contact forms linked here:
Attn:
The NSW Minister for Transport and Roads, David Elliott
The NSW Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport, Rob Stokes
The Premier of NSW, Dominic Perrotet
I am writing to express my concern about two key issues as a resident of Alexandria and urge you to take action immediately:
- Barrier free access at Redfern Station and
- The need for a bridge from South Eveleigh to North Eveleigh.
Barrier-free access at Redfern Station
It is important that barrier-free access is provided across the new Southern Concourse at Redfern Station. Although we understand that Transport for NSW has indicated that the matter is still being considered if as I believe, this will still require an Opal Card or Credit Card to tap on and off, this presents a barrier to free access for the community.
I urge you to ensure that the Southern Concourse is barrier free.
Building a bridge between South and North Eveleigh
The NSW Government is undertaking several major developments in the area that will impact the whole area and see the increased use of this already busy transit hub.
Two of those proposed developments currently under consideration are rezoning proposals for the Paint Shop sub-precinct in North Eveleigh and the Large Erecting Shed in South Eveleigh.
Neither of these proposals commit to delivering the bridge connection that has been in the Redfern Waterloo Authority’s plans for the precinct since at least 2006.
The community has advocated for a bridge across the railway tracks in their submissions to the Department of Planning and Environment for these two proposals.
This bridge would be a vital connection to bring communities together and for easy access to key facilities such as the University of Sydney campus, Carriageworks and the Gibbons Street bus interchange.
I urge the NSW Government to commit to providing an active transport bridge across the railway tracks using the proceeds of the sale of Australian Technology Park.
This must be delivered as part of the redevelopment of land in North and South Eveleigh, and not delayed indefinitely.
Friends of Erskineville are organising a public meeting to discuss the proposed development at North Eveleigh.
The North Eveleigh Paintshop precinct is 5 hectares of precious, heritage-rich public land adjacent to Redfern Station that the NSW government plans to privatise and commercialise.
In 2020, the land was transferred from RailCorp to the controversial Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE), described as an ‘accounting sham‘.
The project was announced in July and declared State Significant Development, giving the Planning Minister complete discretion to overrule the usual planning processes.
The plans will result in 1.4 hectares of publicly accessible open space: essentially an office park with a small amount of ‘affordable housing’ and no public housing. In a recent Sydney Morning Herald article, former City of Sydney councillor Philip Thalis described it and other related plans as the ‘bastard offspring’ of Barangaroo. Our community campaign for an active transport bridge to South Eveleigh has been ignored, despite being promised as far back as 2006. The meeting will have an introduction from REDWatch’s Geoff Turnbull with plenty of time for discussion. Local Greens MP Jenny Leong and Labor candidate David Hetherington will be there to hear your views and respond. Councillors William Chan, Sylvie Ellsmore and Linda Scott will also be joining us.
Come along to this important public meeting to learn more and discuss what the community really needs. If we want our neighbourhood to be the best it can be, we need to show that we care and get our elected representatives to help us achieve it.
WHERE: Erskineville Town Hall WHEN: 2pm Sunday November 6th MORE INFO: Facebook event link
It’s been a while since we held a meeting (thanks Covid!). We are holding our next meeting at the Alexandria Town Hall on Wednesday 12th October at 7pm.
Come along and get updates on major projects in our neighbourhood, including
Waterloo Public Housing & Metro
Sydney Park development
Central to Eveleigh development
Kurrajong Hotel development
Redfern Station upgrade
Have your say about what matters most to you, and meet people from your local community.
As you may know, ARAG along with Friend of Erskineville and Redwatch have been campaigning for a bridge to connect the North and South Eveleigh precincts. For some reason, even with the proposed massive redevelopment of North Eveleigh, a bridge is not part of the plan. We feel it would connect the communities and facilities that are currently a world away “over the train tracks”.
Our good friends at FoE are holding a stall outside Carriageworks on Sep 10th from 8am to 1pm with the aim of picking up more support for the proposal.
If you’re able to help them on the stall, please contact them at friends@friendsoferskineville.org
We are looking to getting our regular meetings up and running again soon, and would like to add some new members to the ARAG committee. If you would like to join and help, please email info@arag.org.au !
It is with great sadness that we advise that Eric Jackson has passed away after a short illness.
We extend our sincere condolences to Patti and his family – he will be greatly missed.
Eric was a long time Alexandria resident who was often found walking his beloved dog, the latest one being Harley who is quite a character.
He had an extraordinary memory for the history of Alexandria and many of the memorable things that have happened in our neighborhood.
Eric was a great supporter of the Alexandria Residents Action Group and helped out by delivering the flyers for the monthly meetings and the Alexandria Sunday Funday.
He was a man who enjoyed life and I know that we will miss his smiling face and willingness to share a story.
The Alex will officially open it’s doors again on Friday 12th November at 6pm. However for locals there is a special early session from 4pm with half-price drinks.
It has been a long time coming, but we are very excited and think it will be worth the wait.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this victory. With so much going on, we have to savour the rare wins. Hope to see you all there on Friday (and regularly thereafter)
Alexandria Residents' Action Group 