The development would take up three blocks and be up to 7
storeys in height, dwarfing the nearby Victorian terrace houses.
Residents are dismayed at an apparent backflip by the Vice
Chancellor who promised in a public statement in July that an entrance to a new
basement carpark for the development would not be built on Abercrombie Street to minimise the risk
to school children attending nearby Darlington
Public School.
In July 2011 the university’s Vice Chancellor, Dr Michael
Spence said –
“In response to concerns from residents and parents of
school children, we have relocated the entry point to the basement carpark from
Abercrombie St to Darlington Lane
and our traffic consultants are examining the traffic loading.” (South Sydney Herald July 2011)
“Latest plans for the DA still show the carpark entrance on
Abercrombie Street close to the public school”, resident and mother of a
student at the school, Mary Ellen McCue, said.
In Australia,
pedestrian injury is the leading cause of death among 1–14-year-olds and
locating a basement carpark entry so close to a school is not best practice.
(1)
In a letter to the Vice Chancellor local group RAIDD
(Residents Acting in Darlington’s Defence )
asked him to honour his promise to the community. They also argued that there
should be no parking on the proposed development site because it would increase
traffic flow throughout the suburb. The residents of Darlington
already bear a greatly reduced amenity because of the large number of students
who drive around residential streets seeking car parking, despite the fact that
the University is well serviced by public transport.
The Seymour Centre carpark, owned by the University and just
a short walk to the site of the proposed Business School,
is significantly underused.
“It does not make sense for the University to build further
carparks in Darlington; rather the University should investigate ways in which
to make more effective use of under-used existing car parks and encourage
students and staff to use public transport”, said resident and neighbour of the
University, Colin Sharp.
Mr Sharp said that the current proposal to increase traffic
in Darlington’s residential streets is not
supported by the University’s Environmental Policy which states –
2.5 Transport
The University aims to reduce the environmental impacts associated
with transport to and from, and within, the University by encouraging staff,
students and visitors to use environmentally-friendly means of transport, on
and off campus. http://www.facilities.usyd.edu.au/documents/docs/policy29.pdf
“The suburb of Darlington
has been radically altered by the University in recent decades and the
residents have made and continue to make many sacrifices for the continued
expansion and redevelopment of the University”, said Ms McCue.
The current proposed development, with the additional 7500
people it will bring into Darlington
perpetuates the mistakes of the past. The interface between the University
campus and residential Darlington will bear
the brunt of high impact activities, such as traffic and parking, whilst the
heart of the University, with its tranquil green spaces, will remain unscathed.
Last week the University unveiled a model of the proposed
development and many residents were shocked at the massive scale of the
project. The project is completely at odds with the heritage precinct in which
it would sit and pays little regard to its surroundings.
The project does not reflect the City Of Sydney’s
vision for Darlington as a pedestrian and
cycle friendly village.
Residents are also very concerned that the University is not
taking the heritage of the site seriously.
The site is located along the original Blackwattle Creek and
has been the subject of pre-contact Aboriginal use and post-contact European
use. Bore hole testing already undertaken by the University may indicate
contamination at the site, which is also an indicator that archaeological
evidence of convict tannery industries etc., also remains below the ground
surface.
The whole site should be the subject of a thorough
Archaeological Assessment, undertaken by a qualified Archaeologist, prior to
the lodgement of the Development Application, as this may restrict the ability
to redevelop key areas of the study site.
Residents are asking the Vice Chancellor to revisit the site
selection process. Residents say that the site on Abercrombie Street, in the heart of
residential Darlington, is inappropriate for
such a large commercial development.
(1) Child Pedestrian Safety: The Role of Behavioural
Science Donna S Cross and Margaret R Hall MJA 2005: 182
(7): 318-319