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:

David Elliott
https://www.nsw.gov.au/nsw-government/ministers/minister-for-transport-veterans-and-western-sydney

Rob Stokes
https://www.nsw.gov.au/nsw-government/ministers/minister-for-infrastructure-cities-active-transport

Dominic Perrotet
https://www.nsw.gov.au/premier-of-nsw/contact-premier

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

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

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”.

You can find out about the proposal and how to write a letter here (it’s really easy!)
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/build-a-bridge

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.

Vale Eric!

Join us at the federal election candidates forum for the seat of Sydney at Alexandria Town Hall, 73 Garden St Alexandria.

Candidates will respond to the top 3 topics selected by residents. To take part in the survey, please visit

bit.ly/3uF0gKt

The forum is being jointly hosted by ARAG, Redwatch and FoE.

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)

Good news! The Alexandria Hotel is soon to re-open! While this has probably been apparent to locals watching the recent activity on site, it’s great to now have official confirmation from Merivale, the owners.

It was back in 2015 when The Alex was sold to a property developer who lodged a Development Application to demolish it and build 28 apartments. A concerted campaign by locals to save this historic hotel from the wrecking ball resulted in more than 500 written objections and thousands of signatures on a petition to City of Sydney council. The application was refused and an interim heritage order was placed on the hotel.

Of course it didn’t stop there – the developers took the matter to the Land & Environment Court and over 100 people turned up to the hearing to object. In the face of such overwhelming community opposition, the developers withdrew the proposal. Over the next year they attempted several compromise proposals, including one which would have had a 7 story apartment building in the rear yard of the hotel! Continued community and council pressure led them to give up and sell the hotel to Merivale.

This has definitely been a great example of people power, but it’s been a somewhat bittersweet victory to date – the hotel was saved from the wrecking ball, but has sat idle due to logistical difficulties.

But that’s all about to change! Merivale has told us they are excited to reopen the hotel as “Backyard at the Alex”. The first stage of the re-opening will be a vibrant outdoor space to allow the ongoing restoration of the interior to continue.

The focus is on the return of the community hub that we fought to retain, rather than the destination venue that might have been expected from Merivale. Taking inspiration from a classic backyard, the hotel will be a family and dog friendly outdoor space where locals can socialise over great food and drinks in a fun, lively setting. The outdoor viewing screen will once again be available to cheer on the Sydney Swans and for other sporting events.

Backyard at The Alex will play host to rotating food trucks serving dishes from some of Sydney’s much loved food operators. The first two to take up residency will be Wholly Schnit serving a range of handmade chicken schnitzels and sides, and Firepop, specialising in Yakitori style bamboo skewers. Merivale will also be serving their pub favourites from a popup kitchen.

The opening hours will be:
○ Monday: CLOSED
○ Tuesday: CLOSED
○ Wednesday: 1200-0000
○ Thursday: 1200-0000
○ Friday: 1200-0000
○ Saturday: 1200-0000
○ Sunday: 1200-2200

The big question is WHEN? The only answer we can currently give you is SOON. As in quite soon. Stay tuned for another update when the opening date is announced.

Thank you all for your support over the last 6 years, and we hope to see you back at The Alex soon!