This section
provides an overview of the social, economic and environmental context, and
characteristics of the Redfern-Waterloo area. It recognises its important
assets, highlights issues to be addressed and the need for revitalisation.
The opportunities
identified in this section are summarised below and are addressed in the
strategies outlined in Section 3.
OPPORTUNITIES
• Ensure that the redevelopment and
revitalisation of Redfern-Waterloo contributes towards the achievement of
metropolitan targets for jobs and improves opportunities for people to live and
work within acceptable commuting distances.
• Support housing provision, housing
choice and implement an affordable housing program.
• Reinforce the proximity of
Redfern-Waterloo to the Sydney CBD and Airport economic corridor and support
links to key educational and health facilities.
• Maximise the potential of the
Redfern Railway Station and anchor Redfern as a major destination for commuters
and residents.
• Encourage Aboriginal enterprise
and cultural development, reinforce Redfern as a meeting place for Aboriginal
people and support employment opportunities and initiatives for local residents
as outlined in the Employment and Enterprise Plan.
• Facilitate improved linkages
between the Redfern Railway Station, local employment hubs, Redfern and Regent
Streets, and the University
of Sydney.
• Work with relevant Government
agencies to address regional and local traffic issues, facilitate improved
connectivity between east and west Redfern, ensure traffic generated by new
development is managed and improve bus access.
• Facilitate the upgrade of Redfern
Railway Station, the creation of a significant civic space adjacent to the
Railway Station, public domain improvements along linkages and increased open
space provision through redevelopment on RWA strategic sites.
• Facilitate the establishment of
community and cultural facilities for all residents, improve safety and amenity
and support the initiatives outlined in the Human Services Plan.
• Ensure high quality urban design
and architecture and protect heritage items where possible.
2.1 Strategic
Location
Redfern-Waterloo
is strategically located to the south of the Sydney Central Business District
(CBD), 3 kilometres from the Sydney
Town Hall. To the
south-west of Redfern-Waterloo are Sydney’s
economic gateways, Port Botany and Sydney
Airport. Under the NSW
Government’s Metropolitan Strategy (City of Cities, A Plan for Sydney’s
Future) released in 2005, the Redfern-Waterloo area is designated as part
of the Sydney CBD to Sydney Airport economic corridor and the broader global
economic corridor from North Sydney to the Airport. This corridor contains
activities critical to the Sydney
metropolitan economy. Diagram 2.1 [144 KB] illustrates the important strategic
position of the Redfern-Waterloo area.
The area’s close
proximity to the Sydney CBD provides an excellent opportunity for businesses
and residents to locate close to Sydney’s
national and international businesses, key health, education, cultural and
entertainment facilities as shown on Diagram 2.2 [147 KB]. It is important that
future development reinforces the area’s proximity to the Sydney CBD and
provides stronger physical links to these facilities and activities.
Redfern-Waterloo
is highly accessible and in close proximity to significant:
• tertiary educational campuses of
the University of Sydney, University of Technology, University of NSW, and
Sydney Institute of Technology
• health facilities such as Royal Prince Alfred
Hospital and St
Vincent’s Hospital
• regional and local open space –
Victoria Park, Moore Park, Centennial Park, Prince Alfred Park
• community facilities and services
• transport infrastructure – rail
and bus networks, major road networks including the orbital motorway and
regional road networks linking to the Sydney CBD, Sydney Airport and Port
Botany (such as, Botany Road, Regent Street, Cleveland Street and O’Riordan
Street)
• residential and commercial
developments proposed at Green
Square and the Carlton United Brewery (CUB) site.
2.2
Metropolitan Strategy PlanningObjectives
In December 2005
the NSW Government released the City of Cities – A Plan for Sydney’s Future,
the 25 year Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney.
The Metropolitan Strategy predicts Sydney’s
population to grow from the current population of 4.2 million to 5.3 million by
2031 (an additional 1.1 million people in 25 years). The NSW Government
predicts that this will require 640,000 new homes, 500,000 additional jobs, 6.8
million square metres of additional commercial space and 3.7 million square
metres of additional retail space. A key approach to the Metropolitan Strategy
is continued residential and employment growth within existing key centres and
economic corridors.
The Metropolitan
Strategy identifies Redfern-Waterloo as an area which can contribute to
achieving the employment and housing goals of the strategy. Due to the area’s
strategic location and public transport provision, it plays a major role in
supporting Sydney’s Economic Corridor (the
corridor refers to the concentration of employment and gateway infrastructure
from Macquarie Park
through to Chatswood, St Leonards, North Sydney
and the Sydney CBD to the Airport and Port Botany) by contributing to
employment and residential growth.
The Metropolitan
Strategy sets planning targets for the City of Sydney of 55,000 new dwellings and 58,000 new
jobs by 2031. The development of the RWA strategic sites can contribute to
providing land for commercial, retail and residential purposes to assist in
meeting these Sydney
metropolitan planning targets. It will also provide for a greater residential
and employment community which can take advantage of existing public transport;
the Sydney CBD, Airport and Port; recreational and cultural facilities; and
nearby significant health and educational facilities.
The Redfern-Waterloo
area has a population of nearly 20,000, less than half the population in the
early 1950’s. This is primarily attributed to smaller households. Like many
other inner city suburbs, Redfern-Waterloo also has experienced a decline in
its traditional industrial and warehousing base.
The decline in
population and the traditional industrial base has impacted on the area’s
economic sustainability. Redfern-Waterloo, along with many suburbs along the
Sydney CBD to Airport corridor, is undergoing a transformation towards a more
commercial and service oriented business/employment base. The RWA strategic
sites can contribute positively by injecting more employment into the area.
Redfern-Waterloo’s
uniquely accessible location provides a great opportunity to support sustainability
within Sydney’s
south east, by providing jobs to a wide working catchment. Job growth in
Redfern-Waterloo will enhance opportunities for people to live and work within
acceptable commuting distance, positively contributing to family life and the
reduction of greenhouse emissions.
2.3 History
and Heritage
Redfern-Waterloo
has a rich built history which is evidenced by the late nineteenth century
terrace housing, industrial buildings and warehouses which still characterise
the area today. Redfern has a strong industrial history dating back to the mid
1800’s. It attracted a wide range of industries, such as, tanneries,
brickworks, wool washing and market gardens. Much housing was constructed to
house the workers of these industries.
The Eveleigh Railway
Workshops, built in the 1870’s, provided a unique influence to the development
of the surrounding area. The Workshops attracted many workers to the area and
at the height of operations employed over 3,000 skilled workers. The late
nineteenth century terrace housing was largely constructed to provide housing
for those employed at the Workshops. The Workshops closed in the late 1980’s
with some railway operations and maintenance facilities still existing on the
southern side of the railway line. Today the Australian Technology Park (ATP)
has brought back employment and people to the southern part of Eveleigh with
adaptive reuse of the Locomotive Workshops and new developments.
The Eveleigh
Railway Workshops includes a number of specific items which are currently
listed on the State Heritage Register.
The adaptive
reuse of significant heritage buildings such as the Locomotive Workshops at the
ATP and the proposed Contemporary Performing Arts Centre at the Carriage
Workshops in North Eveleigh, contribute to the
unique character and setting of the railway yards, reinforces the industrial
history of the area and preserves the heritage significance of the railway
yards. The Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Building which fronts Wilson Street is another fine example of
a heritage building which lends itself to adaptive reuse.
The history of
the area is also reflected in the Local Court House on Redfern Street, some buildings on the Redfern Public School
site and a portion of the Rachel
Forster Hospital.
Further work will
be undertaken to determine the heritage integrity of individual heritage items
and appropriate measures to protect their relative importance with each
development proposal.
Due to the poor
condition of the housing within Redfern-Waterloo in the mid 1900’s, the County of Cumberland Plan (1948-1951) provided for
the demolition of the housing to be replaced with high rise apartment blocks in
a landscaped setting. The Housing Commission at the time played a key role in
developing Redfern-Waterloo as evidenced by the public housing that remains
today. The Housing Commission towers remain a strong built feature in the
landscape and continue to reflect the very high proportion of public housing
tenancies. The NSW Government has given its commitment to ensure that there
will be no reduction to the amount of public housing tenancies in the area,
current residents will not be disadvantaged and all public tenancies are
secure.
The Aboriginal
community has had continuous occupation of the Redfern-Waterloo area. Since the
1940’s Redfern and the area known as the Block (bound by Eveleigh, Vine, Louis
and Caroline Streets) has become an important base for the Aboriginal people in
Sydney. The
Block is an area of urban land owned by Aboriginal people, when it was purchased
(through a grant) for Aboriginal housing in 1973. The struggle to gain
ownership of the Block was part of the movement by Aboriginal people during the
1970’s towards self-determination. Many of original houses on the Block have
been demolished and many of these are remaining derelict.
The much needed
redevelopment of the Block must recognise its social and cultural importance
for Aboriginal people. In general, Redfern has a special status for Aboriginal
people, with organisations such as the first Aboriginal Medical Service having
started in the area.
2.4 Community
The
Redfern–Waterloo area is the traditional home of the Gadigal
Clan of the Eora Nation. Redfern is a centre of major significance to
Aboriginal people who have a strong association with the area and contribute to
its strong sense of identity. The Block is particularly important as a meeting
place for local Aboriginal people, as well as, visitors from outside the area.
Redfern has a modern tradition of being a beacon for
Aboriginal people from around Australia
– it provides an opportunity to reunite with family and friends from their
hometowns or to simply be with ‘their mob’. Originally there has been a ‘sense
of place’ here for the Aboriginal community and a sense of cultural and
spiritual identity in an otherwise alienating environment. (Aboriginal Housing
Company; 2001)
Redfern-Waterloo
is also characterised by strong cultural and ethnic diversity. The area has a
rich multicultural community with residents from Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Greek,
Spanish, Vietnamese and various backgrounds other than English. There is a
strong sense of community spirit within the area. From interviews with the
local community (Making Connections: Better Services, Stronger Community,
2004) it was expressed that people value the diversity of the area and that
there is a high level of respect despite some negative external perceptions. Appendix
One provides a community profile.
Compared to the Sydney region, the
Redfern–Waterloo area experiences higher levels of economic and social
disadvantage. This is attributed to lower incomes, education, home ownership
and labour force participation, high levels of unemployment and public housing
occupancy.
Within the
Aboriginal community the social and economic disadvantage is more significant
with people more likely to be unemployed, have lower incomes and fewer assets,
poorer education, literacy and health and lower life expectancy.
The social and
economic disadvantage has contributed to complex social issues and a negative
perception of the Redfern-Waterloo area. Crime levels, including a re-offending
population, drug and alcohol dependence and poor health, particularly mental
health, and family breakdown and stress are issues within Redfern-Waterloo.
Empowerment
through access to jobs, education and training are an important key to
addressing the fundamental problems associated with social disadvantage. The
Employment and Enterprise Plan prepared by the RWA outlines opportunities for
job creation for the local community. The draft Built Environment Plan provides
the planning mechanism for much of the job creation identified in the
Employment and Enterprise Plan.
The Human
Services Plan compliments these initiatives by ensuring a more efficient and
appropriate delivery of human services to those in need in the community. In
support of the Human Services Plan, this draft Plan seeks to facilitate the
provision of community and cultural facilities through land use and planning
controls which encourage their establishment.
As a result of
gentrification and private ownership in parts of Redfern-Waterloo over the past
decade, the relative proportion of lower to medium income households has
decreased and is comparative to the wider Sydney
region. While gentrification has facilitated increased growth and prosperity it
has also reduced the affordability of housing within Redfern-Waterloo, which
has led to the displacement of lower income earners. This in turn has
contributed to increasing social polarisation as the gap between high and low
income groups widens. Declining housing affordability is an issue that needs to
be addressed. This objective is reinforced by the Redfern-Waterloo Act which
makes provision for the RWA to collect funds to provide for affordable housing
in the area.
The Redfern
Waterloo Authority seeks to ensure the creation of a more sustainable future
for the community in the Redfern Waterloo Area.
2.5 Built
Environment and Public Domain
The public domain
within Redfern-Waterloo varies considerably from the strong landscape character
of the residential streets, to the streets in the light industrial areas south
of Cleveland Street
which lack vegetation.
The area
primarily is characterised by simple linear urban streets with footpaths on
both sides of the street and some tree planting.
Crime and
personal safety has been identified by the community as the most significant
issue that needs to be addressed in the area. This especially relates to the
use and enjoyment of public areas frequently compromised by crime and intimidating
behaviour. The NSW Government Submission for the Inquiry into Redfern and
Waterloo 2004 highlights the strong community concern about crime and
safety. This concerns were also expressed by the public during consultation for
the RED Strategy. Improvements to the public domain and increased surveillance
are important ways in which public safety and perception can be improved and
are an important element of this draft Plan.
The community has
also indicated that the streetscape and surrounds require improvements. Dark
streets and shuttered shop fronts during the day and night create an impression
that the area is unsafe and unwelcoming. This is especially the case in the
Redfern town centre, which includes Redfern and Regents Streets which are
underperforming as the area’s retail hub. Improvements in the public domain to
surrounding town centres such as King
Street, Newtown, Erskineville Road,
Erskineville and Oxford Street,
Paddington have had a significant impact on encouraging people to use these
areas, and boosted local business activity significantly.
There are no
major supermarkets servicing the local catchment and residents often travel to
Surry Hills, East
Gardens, Marrickville or
Broadway for their weekly shopping.
Along Regent Street and
its surrounds there has recently been new mixed use development characterised
by commercial and retail on the ground floor and residential above. This has
provided new premises for businesses and increased activity along the street.
The City of Sydney council has announced
a $20 million streetscape improvement program to commence in 2006. These works
include improvements to the paths, under grounding of power lines, new street
furniture, trees and lighting on Redfern
Street, improvements to the Cope Street Reserve, and
limited upgrade of Regent Street.
This public investment is a positive start to improving the access and amenity
of the area, however, the RWA has submitted to the City of Sydney that much more needs to be done to
revitalise Regent Street.
The urban design
analysis of Redfern-Waterloo has reinforced the problems related to the limited
connectivity to and within the area. Despite the extensive movement network,
transport options and grid street system, connectivity for pedestrians and
residents to the Redfern Railway Station, town centre and between North and South Eveleigh is restricted. This is primarily due to
the rail corridor, rail yards and major roads carrying through traffic.
The result is a
disconnected suburban structure and development sites enclosed by the
transportation network. This has lead to the separation of Redfern and Regent
Streets from the western residents and worker catchments, which has discouraged
pedestrian movement through to the Redfern town centre.
The lack of
connectivity also contributes to poor passive surveillance of the public
spaces.
The access to the
north eastern part of the area around Eveleigh
Street is heavily compromised due to the lack of
visual connection and passive surveillance, which contributes to antisocial behaviour
in open space areas.
The area around
Redfern Railway Station is disjointed and uninviting, with few developments and
activities addressing the Station entrance on Gibbons Street, and inadequate
connections from ATP, the Redfern town centre and North
Eveleigh.
The ATP provides
a positive built environment incorporating adaptive reuse of buildings,
contemporary design buildings and a good public domain.
However,
pedestrians access to Redfern Railway Station and the Redfern town centre need
to be improved.
The public domain
around other RWA strategic sites, such as North Eveleigh
tends to be quite poor due to the minimal activity on the site and lack of
public and private investment.
2.6 Transport
and Access
Public
Transport
The Redfern
Railway Station is one of the most significant assets of Redfern-Waterloo.
Railway stations and other transport nodes play an important role in the
revitalisation of a local area by providing transport for workers and
residents. Redfern Railway Station is the eighth busiest railway station in the
metropolitan CityRail network in terms of passenger movements (occurring on a
typical weekday) with approximately over 31,000 movements (entries and exits).
In addition, considerable passenger interchanges occur between platforms
(approximately 18,000 rail to rail interchange movements within the station on
a weekday). More CityRail suburban and inter urban trains stop at Redfern
Railway Station than any other station, with the exception of Central,
providing it with superior access to and within metropolitan Sydney. Redfern
Railway Station provides an exceptional opportunity as a destination for
commuters.
Information from
RailCorp indicates that over 55 percent of commuters walk to the station and
approximately 37 percent travel to the station by bus. Only about five percent
of rail commuters arrive at the station by car. There is significant movement
of people to the University of Sydney and over 1,300 people interchange during peak
period from rail to bus to access the employment areas of Mascot, Botany and Alexandria. This data
clearly indicates that access and connectivity to bus stops, key adjoining
destinations, such as the University of Sydney, and future activity nodes at
Redfern town centre (Redfern Street), ATP and North Eveleigh must be well
considered to ensure ease of access and safety for workers, residents and
visitors.
Redfern Railway
Station does not currently provide access for people with disability, in line
with the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport. The stairway
access to the platforms is inequitable for the elderly, young children and less
mobile people.
Any proposed
redevelopment of the RWA strategic sites must be matched with improvements to
Redfern Railway Station and associated connections to key destinations in
Redfern-Waterloo. This is reinforced in the Metropolitan Strategy where
upgrading of the station is seen as a key to providing better services for
future development.
The Redfern
Railway Station upgrade needs to occur to provide:
• disabled access and enhanced
safety
• a general increase in rail
patronage growth
• increased capacity to service the
new residential, commercial and retail development proposed on the RWA
strategic sites, especially North Eveleigh, ATP, and Gibbons and Regent Streets
• a physically improved Railway
Station which improves the entry and connections to the Redfern-Waterloo area
• a more efficient rail to rail
interchange facility.
Existing buses
services through and to Redfern offer a high level of regional connectivity.
However, the frequency of services and the expansion of existing routes need to
be closely examined. Pedestrian connections to key bus stops, especially on
Regent and Lawson Streets also need to be enhanced.
Roads
The Australian
Bureau of Statistics 2001 Census shows that the existing population of
Redfern-Waterloo has almost half the car ownership of the Sydney
metropolitan region and uses public transport at double the rate of those in
the Sydney
metropolitan region. This is partially due to the socio-economic profile of the
existing population.
The
Redfern-Waterloo area funnels a great deal of regional traffic and people to
other destinations in Sydney,
instead of being a key destination. Currently, large volumes of regional
traffic along Gibbons and Regent Streets physically dissect the Redfern Railway
Station from the Redfern town centre. This limits physical connections,
restricts pedestrian movement and reduces pedestrian safety.
The Department of
Planning has advised that over the next 10 years traffic in the Sydney CBD to
Airport corridor is anticipated to increase by 20,000 road trips in the morning
peak. The continuing strong growth in the movement of vehicles and trucks
through the Airport and Port Botany will increase demands on the regional
transport network. Without any action to address the increasing traffic from
the Airport and Port Botany, regional traffic will continue to increase through
Redfern-Waterloo impacting on the amenity and safety of pedestrians. As a
result, this will continue to negatively impact on the already poor business
environment along Regent and Gibbons Streets.
The RWA in
partnership with the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) is currently examining
options to manage regional traffic through Redfern-Waterloo. The RWA’s vision
is to reinstate two way traffic operations on Regent and Gibbons Streets which
will assist in managing traffic along these streets and create a safer main
street and pedestrian environment. The solution may require a more strategic
response which takes into consideration broader metropolitan and regional
traffic issues and may not be imminent.
Cycling
There are many
existing on road bicycle routes through or adjoining the RWA strategic sites.
Currently, there
are on road bicycle routes along Redfern
Street, Lawson
Street connecting to Little Eveleigh Street and Wilson Street which
extends towards Erskineville, Newtown, Sydney University
and City Road.
There are also on road bicycle routes along Henderson Road and Railway Parade. The
only off road bicycle route in the locality is through the ATP.
As part of the
City of Sydney’s proposed upgrade of Redfern Street, Council is considering
cycle and traffic lanes and 10 kilometres per hour speed limits along Wells
Street and Turner Street to improve the safety for cyclists and to direct them
off the busier and more dangerous traffic routes (such as Redfern Street).
Further work will
be undertaken to determine linkages to and through RWA strategic sites for
cyclists.
2.7 Land Use
and Built Form
As is typical of
many inner city areas of Sydney,
the built form is a mixture of terrace housing, small single storey cottages,
and two to three storey commercial and retail buildings. Interspersed within
this, especially along the main traffic routes (such as, Cleveland Street and Regent Street) and close to the railway
line are larger four to six storey warehouses and industrial buildings. It is
this mix of massing and different architectural form that is part of the
character of these inner city locations.
Redfern-Waterloo
is generally fine grained within residential areas with narrow frontages (about
five to six metres) and deep lots (about thirty metres). Larger lots occur
where warehousing and railway uses were located. Overall the street pattern
provides simple rectilinear street blocks. Many are divided by narrow laneways
which provide rear access to dwellings and other uses.
The
Redfern-Waterloo area has also been subject to more recent twentieth century
development. Some of this development has introduced a high rise built form in
locations of high visibility. These built forms include the existing TNT towers
on Lawson and Regent Streets and the Department of Housing apartment towers in
south eastern and eastern Redfern and Waterloo.
The TNT towers coincide with the ridge line which further exaggerates the
height of the buildings. The Department of Housing towers are located towards
the lower slopes of the ridge which reduces the visual impact of the buildings.
The Redfern town
centre at Redfern Street
has a mixture of built form. Its predominant heights are two to four storeys.
The dominant height of the TNT towers has created a visual marker for the
Redfern town centre (Redfern Railway Station and Redfern Street), however, this area lacks
active uses and is visually unappealing. With appropriate urban design
treatment and high quality public domain, the redevelopment of the TNT towers
and the land adjoining the Redfern Railway Station can act as a positive
gateway to the Redfern town centre and transport facilities.
To the west of
the Redfern-Waterloo area the built form includes significant groupings of two
storey terraces. However, along streets such as Abercrombie Street and Lawson Street there are concentrations of
older warehouses and buildings associated with the University of Sydney
that have greater height. Generally the scale is three to five storeys which
continue back along Lawson Street
to the Redfern Railway Station.
The Eveleigh
railway lands contrast to the general built form of the area with large
structures covering extensive footprints.
The entire area
is characterised by development very close to the street edge, providing a
strong sense of enclosure along the street.
Development on
the RWA strategic sites needs to reflect the positive aspects of the existing
character and diversity of the area.
2.8 Natural
Features
Topography
The majority of
the Redfern-Waterloo area is located either along the ridge line or on north,
west and south facing slopes. Redfern
Street and the TNT towers are located along a
ridge line. There is also a ridge line running slightly east of Elizabeth Street.
Views
The
Redfern-Waterloo area offers magnificent views looking north towards the Sydney
CBD. The Sydney CBD is visible from most of the north-south streets crossing Redfern Street and
along Lawson Street
where it intersects Eveleigh
Street.
To the south are
district views of the Department of Housing high rise apartments and towards Sydney Airport
and Botany Bay. Views to the east and west are
generally local in nature.
The Redfern Street
ridge line is visible from the southern parts of the Sydney CBD and also from
high rise development on the southern edge of the city. The existing TNT towers
and the Department of Housing high rise apartments are prominent features which
are viewed when travelling southward through the area.
From the south,
the Redfern-Waterloo area is less visible as the slope is fairly gradual,
although the high rise apartment grouping is highly visible.
Public Domain
and Open Space
Public open spaces
in the area are dominated by regional parks such as Moore
Park and more district parks such as Redfern Park, Victoria
Park and Prince Alfred. There are also a number of local parks scattered
throughout some of the residential areas, such as Hollis
Park, Alexandria
Park, Yellowmudee
Park, Hugo Street Reserve and Pemulwuy Park. The City of Sydney is currently planning for the upgrade
of a number of local parks in the Eveleigh
Street and east Redfern area to make the parks
more attractive, improve their function, and improve safety and visibility.
The lack of a
central meeting places within the town centre and inadequate public domain
accentuates the apparent lack of open space within Redfern-Waterloo.
Redevelopment offers the opportunity to formalise a civic heart adjacent to the
Redfern Railway Station which will provide open space. Improvements and
landscaping to linkages will also enhance the public open space.
New development
on RWA strategic sites will be required to provide adequate open space or make
a contribution to open space provision. A Public Domain Improvement Plan will
be prepared by the RWA to inform how improved open space provision in
Redfern-Waterloo will be achieved.
2.9 Utility
Services
The proposed
increases in residential population and businesses will have an impact on
capacity of utility services. This includes the provision of water, sewerage,
stormwater, gas, electricity and telecommunications.
During exhibition
of the draft Plan utility service providers will be consulted to provide
preliminary information on the capacity and proposed delivery solutions to
cater for the new development.