Matavi and
Turanga, Waterloo’s
twin 29-storey towers, still have 30 years of life left in them.
But the
council’s Waterloo
and Redfern Urban Design Report says “perimeter development is preferred
to both the clusters of walk-ups and … isolated towers”.
George Street, which was bisected by a lawn
between the towers, should be reinstated, the study says.
A
Department of Housing spokesman said there were no immediate plans to knock the
towers down. But the Redfern Waterloo Authority, charged with redeveloping the
two suburbs, is considering how to bring more private housing into the area.
Yesterday
the Minister for Housing, Matt Brown, announced that one public housing block
of 106 units would be redeveloped into 264 apartments and houses with 158 sold
to private owners.
But the
authority’s chief executive, Robert Domm, said the council’s recommendations
for the towers were premature.
Kate
Cavanagh, the director of services for Mercy Arms Community Care, disagreed with
replacing the towers just because of their height, saying her clients felt a
sense of community there.
Tony
Vinson, the emeritus professor of social work at the University of NSW,
said the plans to bring in a higher socioeconomic group to Redfern-Waterloo were
positive because they are a “more demanding clientele” for government
services.
However,
there was no evidence that it led to more social cohesion, he said.
See also Statement
at NSW
GOVERNMENT GIVES GO-AHEAD FOR REDFERN REDEVELOPMENT
[REDWatch note: The Sydney
Morning Herald article makes reference to the City of Sydney’s
“Waterloo and Redfern Urban Design Study Report”
which can be found on the City of Sydney’s
website. The Study is broken up into a number of large PDF files and for
convenience we have provided links below to the relevant sections on the City of Sydney website:
The Urban Design
recommendations that cover the area of the announced Elizabeth Street DoH
redevelopment is covered in section 3.2.6 Kettle Street (3. Neighbourhood Strategies – C | PDF 4.5Mb).
The Urban Design recommendations that
cover the Waterloo DoH area that encompasses Matavi and Turanga is 3.2.12 George Street (3. Neighbourhood Strategies – G | PDF 5.5Mb).
This area was also the subject of a significant site study on which the SMH
article has drawn (6. Significant Sites | PDF 4.9Mb). Appendix E ( PDF 114Kb) of the Urban
design study shows all public housing in the Waterloo Redfern area. The Urban
Design Study 5. LEP Recommendations ( PDF 4.9Mb)
detail the new heights that the City of Sydney
are proposing for all areas in Waterloo
and Redfern including for the recently announced Elizabeth Street DoH
redevelopment.]