According to Ms Turnbull, community meetings were poorly
publicised. She recalled an occasion where, excluding her and Geoff, only five
people attended. “They found out through our e-mails. People didn’t know these
community forums were being held,” she said. “The e-mail [update] has really
been about the information,” Ms Turnbull said. “It’s about spreading the
information and letting people do with it what they want. It works to the
benefit of the community to hear the voices of the community.”
Update subscribers have grown to about 1,000. The list
includes people from various government departments including the NSW
Departments of Planning, and Education and Training. “I look forward to the
updates,” City of Sydney Councillor
Tony Pooley said. “It’s a great credit to Geoff and
Lyn that they endeavour to keep the community well informed. I find the updates
comprehensive, written with a good local insight and a nice touch of humour.”
Another City Councillor praised the updates. “I think it’s a
very valuable community resource,” Cr Marcelle Hoff said. “I know people rely
on it to gather information they wouldn’t otherwise.”
The updates began as a result of a meeting in July 2003. The
Redfern Partnership Project, a precursor to the Redfern Waterloo Authority,
developed its RED Strategy. “Its format was very well developed,” she said.
“Everyone [was concerned] and got together to form the Redfern
Water Futures. The RED Strategy only looked at the built
environment,” Lyn said.
The group was concerned that many social issues would be
neglected. While nothing happened, Geoff and Lyn used the group’s resources.
“We used that [group’s] list to go to people and say ‘It would be a good idea
to look at this, so we can get the best deal for the community’.” Lyn compared
the situation to the Carlton & United Brewery proposed development in
Chippendale. “It’s been the same sort of process,” she said. For similar
reasons, a community response is needed to try to get a government response.
The updates are separate to REDWatch. However, they are
complementary – informing and working for the community – and accessible on the
group’s website.
Thanks Lyn and Geoff!
Source: South Sydney Herald December 2006