Dear Dr Spence,
When the original plans for the Abercrombie Precinct Development were
published in June 2011, one of the major objections of the local community was
to the location of the access road to the site on Abercrombie St, close to
Darlington Public School.
It seemed that our concerns had been heard because in July 2011 you
made the following statement to the people of Darlington – “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)
The University has since revised its plans and now intends to lodge a
new development application for the Business School. The access road to the
site is still on Abercrombie St, however, despite your promise last July. The
local community’s concerns about the location of this access road on
Abercrombie St and the dangers of it being so close to the entrance to the
school still hold true. The local community would not want to be swamped by the
University traffic of the proposed Business School with its additional 7500
students, not to mention the commercial and industrial vehicles during the
construction phase.
The local Darlington community is extremely disappointed that you have
broken your promise.
This seems to be yet again a case of the University not respecting the
local community. You yourself admitted on 20 April 2010 at a community meeting
at The Settlement in Chippendale that “One of the things that has come back
again and again is that the University, quite frankly, is ashamed of not being
very good neighbours.” This enormous development will only build a barrier
between the University and the Darlington community.
You also said at The Settlement on 20 April 2010: “And if we are going
to talk about being an institution that has community roots then those
community roots ought to begin with those communities around the campus.”
We would like you then to begin a dialogue with the Darlington
community and explain to us in person:-
- how a community of 2000 people is benefited by
building a Business School on its doorstep which would swamp that community
with 7500 new students; - why such a massive development of this scale is
being proposed for the edge of the Darlington Campus where it would have
maximum impact on the surrounding community, whilst the large main campus of
the University with its many open spaces would remain unscathed; - how a massive development of this scale built out
of glass and steel fits in with the heritage streetscape of Darlington; - how a massive development of this scale fits in
with the City Of Sydney’s vision for Darlington as a pedestrian and cycle
friendly village; - how such a money-making, commercial endeavour for
the University would benefit the local community; and finally - why you have broken your promise to the people and
community of Darlington.
If you are truly serious about the University “being a good neighbour”
and “being an institution that has community roots”, we invite you to come and
speak to the local community to respond to the matters we have raised in this
letter.
Yours faithfully,
RAIDD (Residents Acting In Darlington’s Defence) RAIDD2008@gmail.com
Source: The South Sydney Herald April 2012 – www.southsydneyherald.com.au