THE number of homes on public land in Redfern and
Waterloo will double under plans to radically change the area with the
largest concentration of social housing in the inner city.
Proposals just published by the Redfern-Waterloo
Authority will lead to many of the three-story apartment blocks dotted
across 33 hectares being replaced with blocks four, six and eight
storeys high.
And much of the open space that surrounds existing social
housing developments will be used for infill development under the
plans that will reshape the area over the next 20-25 years.
Residents in the suburbs have just been advised of the plans, set out in a swag of documents available on the internet.
Summaries provided to residents say the plans ”could
result in approximately 3500 additional dwellings in the whole Redfern
and Waterloo area”, many of which will be private homes built on what
is now public land.
The documents say the authority wants to break down the
heavy concentration of social housing and create communities that are
more mixed, in keeping with the philosophy that guides Housing NSW.
”The aim is to achieve a mix of 60 per cent private and
affordable housing dwellings and 40 per cent social housing to encourage
a thriving and sustainable community,” the documents say.
While they do not spell out how this mix will be
achieved, it is likely many smaller public housing blocks will be sold
to developers who will replace them with new private housing
developments with much higher density.
There are 4300 social housing dwellings in the area, or
44 per cent of the total, although the documents say that number will
fall to 2800 plus 700 affordable housing dwellings where lower-paid
workers have subsided rent.
The authority has promised that social housing tenants who are relocated will be rehoused elsewhere within the City of Sydney.
Many of the low-rise buildings will go, but the high-rise towers will remain.
”As the current economic life of high-rise towers
buildings is generally about 30 years or more, it is anticipated that
these buildings will be retained for some time,” it says.
But with many of the apartments in these towers run down,
the plan says there is ”real potential” for them to be renovated so
they blend better with more upmarket private housing planned for the
area.
Geoff Turnbull of the local community group REDWatch said
he supported the thrust of the changes and there was no doubt that
higher-density development would improve the area.
But after poring over the documents, he believed the
plans were for a much higher density than had been proposed by the City
of Sydney.
”The authority has requested to increase density by 35
per cent more than City of Sydney wants. The density over what’s there
is for an extra 3500 units, which is doubling the density that’s already
there.”
He said it was difficult to judge the plan because the
authority’s rules provided for ”predominant height”, which allows an
eight-storey building, for example, to be 12 storeys high on 20 per cent
of a development site.
”There needs to be some increase in density – we don’t
have a problem with that – but the issue is what happens to public space
and amenity, and we are not convinced 35 per cent above City of Sydney
is right.”
Public meetings will be held over the next month while
the plans are on display but Mr Turnbull said more time was needed to
consider such radical changes.
Makeover … Kettle Street now, above, and the proposed plans, below.
Source: www.smh.com.au/nsw/crowded-redfern-to-spread-its-wings-20110204-1agvs.html
[REDWatch notes:
1. The 4300 figure referred to in the story is for the entire area covered by the RWA. The area covered by the RWA Plan is a smaller area covering the concentrated public housing which contains approximately 3,500 HNSW properties.
2. Kettle street is currently closed at Elizabeth St but the RWA BEP2 page 74 proposes opening up this closure. The artist impression hence includes a closure recommended for removal in the Plan.]