Minister
for the new Redfern Waterloo Authority, Frank Sartor said the State Government’s 10-year plan for the area is an ongoing package
of initiatives, ranging from infrastructure to social services and community
renewal.
“There
is no magic solution for the entrenched problems in Redfern-Waterloo,” Mr
Sartor said.
“Redfern-Waterloo
is a work in progress and we cannot expect these problems will be solved
overnight.
“These
are complex issues and that is why the government is taking a co-ordinated
approach to find new ways to solve them.
“Essential
infrastructure is in need of upgrading and complex social problems are in need
of real solutions.
‘We are going to achieve this is by taking the community with
us,”
Mr Sartor
said no decision has been made regarding the future of the site known as the
Block,
“The
State Government is currently working closely with the local community and the
Aboriginal Housing Company on opportunities for the Block,” Mr Sartor
said.
The new
Redfern-Waterloo Authority – modelled on the Sydney Harbour Foreshore
Authority- would administer a Redfern-Waterloo Fund and manage public
infrastructure, land and properties in the area,
“Our
10-year plan is not however, simply an infrastructure package”.
“Earlier
this month, the Minister for Community Services, Carmel Tebbutt and I released
the Redfern-Waterloo Human Services Review.
“With
a myriad of Government services in the area we wanted to ensure the right
services are delivered to the right people – and that services work together to
meet the needs of the community.
“We
are now working with the community on a plan to implement the review
recommendations.”
Mr Sartor
said the State Government had also put in place a Jobs Plan to address the high
number of people in the area not participating in the labour force,
Waterloo is rated as the fifth poorest suburb out of 526 Sydney suburbs and
Redfern is ranked in the bottom third. Nearly 60 per cent of Waterloo’s
residents are not in the labour force and are benefit dependent, while around
12 per cent of Redfern households in 2001 lived on an income less than $200 a
week.
“We
know the most effective way to combat poverty is through a job. This initiative
underpinned by the new Human Services plan for the area, will address this
important issue.
As the
Premier announced on October 26, 2004 the Redfern-Waterloo Plan will see:
- • The major
redevelopment of the Redfern Railway Station, including the development of a
significant town centre, with commercial and retail activity within a railway
concourse; - A new
pedestrian bridge across the southern arterial roads of Gibbons and Regent
Streets at Redfern; - A new
bridge to link the Australian Technology Park
with North Eveleigh; - Extending
the entry requirements for the Australian
Technology Park
to encourage further commercial activity; - Optimising
use of Government land; - Increasing
rental or home ownership housing opportunities; - Investigating
the renewal of public housing estates; - Developing
a cultural strategy to support economic and urban regeneration; and - Working
with the City of Sydney Council
and the Commonwealth Government on community renewal.
Legislation
establishing the new Redfern-Waterloo Authority has been introduced into NSW
Parliament.