Artist’s impression … the business school design.
RESIDENTS of Darlington are feeling squeezed as the
University of Sydney plans to build a massive school and student
accommodation on Abercrombie Street.
According to plans before the Department of Planning, three blocks in
the inner-west suburb could be transformed into the ”Abercrombie Street
precinct” – made up of student residences and a seven-storey new
business school, which would accommodate up to 7500 students and staff.
It comes as the university continues its bid to buy land along the
railway line in North Eveleigh for expansion and a redevelopment of the
Darlington pool and gym.
The university said its latest venture would ”provide world-class
educational facilities” but residents are worried their suburb is being
engulfed.
”In the last 40 years the university has swept across City Road like a
tsunami,” said a community activist, Tim Brunero. ”People are starting
to feel nervous and wonder ‘when is it going to stop?’ ”
The site for development is a block bound by Codrington Street to the east and Darlington Public School to the west.
Under the plan, most of the existing buildings, including the Shepherd
Centre and Boundary Lane Childcare Centre, would be replaced by the
new school building and student accommodation with 100 beds. Planning
and construction would take about five years and cost $267 million.
”The school is currently housed in six different locations across the
Camperdown-Darlington campus, in buildings of varying standards,” the
director of Campus Infrastructure Services, Colin Rockliff, said.
”The aim is to provide better facilities for students, not increase
[numbers].”
Residents’ concerns include the height and bulk of buildings and traffic and parking problems.
The president of the school community committee at Darlington Public,
Nick Vanos, said parents were worried about the plans and the effects
of the long construction period.
In submissions to the department, parents said they feared the new
buildings would overshadow the playground and that a car park entrance
next to the school will put children at risk.
The small school has only unflued gas heaters, so must keep
classroom windows open, sparking concerns about air pollution during
construction.
”The proposal would compromise the classroom, and playground environment,” he said.
The university also has a separate development application being
considered by the City of Sydney for the redevelopment of its
Darlington sporting complex. It is seeking to buy the Crown land along
the rail line near Carriageworks, called North Eveleigh, for student
accommodation, learning and research space.
Residents and representatives from the school met the university
yesterday and said they felt encouraged by signs it was willing to
compromise on some aspects.
”Rather than ‘taking over’ Darlington, the university wants to create
buildings and grounds which encourage local residents to use and enjoy
our campus and facilities,” Mr Rockliff said.
Geoff Turnbull, from community group REDWatch (covering Redfern,
Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo), said the university’s ability to
listen and compromise would determine how residents reacted.
”If you sit in the residential belt … the fear is the university is
going to gobble you up … [it] needs to be careful about how it deals
with the … development to put those fears to rest.”
Source: www.smh.com.au/nsw/residents-fear-uni-plan-will-gobble-up-suburb-20110624-1gjkp.html