Ditching Eveleigh agreement robs the future by discounting the past

There is a long-standing government agreement that the Eveleigh
site be retained for heritage purposes.

In the mid-1980s the then State Rail Authority and the state
government argued that the railway workshops at Eveleigh were
outdated and the 4000 employees should be either retrenched or
moved to more modern workshops at Chullora. Naturally these
proposals, affecting so many, caused no end of debate, including
among NSW unions.

Eventually an agreement to divert industrial disputation was
reached between all concerned and endorsed at a mass meeting of
Eveleigh employees. The terms of settlement included an
understanding that heritage features of Eveleigh would be protected
for future generations as an example of what pioneering NSW
industry had achieved, and that it be used to provide young people
with training in traditional skills (like blacksmithing), which
still have a place in our society. Thus the idea for Sydney
Technology Park was born.

In line with the terms in this agreement endorsed by Eveleigh
employees, the community and the State Government, the National
Trust (NSW) placed a heritage order on the site which has up until
now acted to protect some of the 12 original heritage Eveleigh
locations. Before the last of the 4000 employees left Eveleigh,
plaques were placed upon every remaining machine (most of which
were more than 100 years old and some the only ones of their kind
in the world still in working order), indicating the machines were
of heritage value and should not be removed. People can look for
these tags on the open day to be held on August 17 at the
blacksmith’s workshop.

Fortunately for NSW, the blacksmith, Guido Gouverneur, and
organisations like 3801 Limited have respected that agreement and
some of the heritage locations and items remain in good working
order and still provide the opportunity for a modern,
heritage-based technical park that fits in with plans for other
parts of the Eveleigh area now being discussed by Sydney University
and the City of Sydney.

As this battle for Eveleigh heats up it should be remembered
that had the various NSW governments kept to the terms of
agreements they reached with the Eveleigh workforce and others
along the way, Sydney would not need to rush to the battle stations
to defend the site. We could all be enjoying a stroll in a much
needed technology park that combined NSW’s past industrial
achievements with the current demand for a skilled Australian
workforce.