ATP's Operating Blacksmith's Shop
One of the features of the ATP has been the continuation operation of Blacksmith’s shop in Bays 1 & 2 South at the ATP. The construction of the ATP even included the erecting of an acoustic wall so the workshop could continue to function in proximity to its new uses. From the very beginning it has been seen as maintaining a link to the buildings industrial past but that was at threat in 2008 with the RWA serving the occupants with a notice to quit by the 30th September 2008. Following a successful campaign and Open Day the RWA and the Blacksmiths entered into a Lease that preserves the operating Blacksmiths and recognises the importance of heritage preservation in the setting up of the Technology Park. Here you can explore the issues and this successful campaign.
This letter was sent by Wrought Artworks to RWA Board members in March 2008 outlining their history and their problems in dealing with the RWA.
This letter was sent by Wrought Artworks Lord Mayor Clover Moore on 24 April 2008 outlining the company's problem with the RWA.
The letter below was written by Clover Moore MP to Minister responsible for Redfern Waterloo Frank Sartor on 6th June 2008. The letter asks the Minister to "Could you please review the decision to evict Wrought Artworks, consider alternative arrangements to maintain this workshop and inform me what action you will take?". The text of the full letter is provided below:
Wrought Artworks is asking people to communicate their concern about the decision to force them out and to close the ATP’s Blacksmith Workshop. The contact list below is provided by Wrought Artworks for lobbying purposes.
This 10 minute video is about Wrought Artworks who have operated the ATP Blacksmith Shop for the last 17 years as part of heritage conservation at the ATP. The RWA has now served them with a notice to quit the premises and a campaign is being run to maintain the Blacksmith operations at the ATP.
In this letter from the Trust in support of the re-nomination of the Large Erecting Shop for a National Listing. The National Trust advises the Federal Department that it will be nominating The blacksmith Shop for a National Listing and that thaey are seeking urgent action by the Minister to protect the site and retain the operation of the Blacksmith.
This is from the Conservation Management Plan 1995 Final draft, considered the last document.This is the document that the Minister of Planning refers to in his Determination of Consent. States "Bay 1 & 2 South to remain an operational workshop.....it is appropriate and desirable that a blacksmithing operation remains a long term feature of the site...the present operation is run by Guido Gouverneur, who is a sub-lessee of the site....". File is 733 KB PDF.
Development Application for proposed Technology Park Uses, Exhibition Space, Historic Machinery Exhibits and Educational Facilities at THE LOCOMOTIVE WORKSHOPS EVELEIGH for the AUSTRALIAN TECHNOLOGY PARK SYDNEY LTD: 1996 . States "Bays 1 & 2 are to maintained as an operational Workshop. This are is currently occupied (leased by Wrought Artworks). It is the aim of the ATPSL to maintain the workshop as a working exhibit". File is 356 PDF.
DETERMINATION OF DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION NO 6/96 - CONSERVATION AND REUSE OF THE LOCOMOTIVE WORKSHOPS, EVELEIGH PRECINCT, CITY WEST. 1996: Granted by the Minister of Urban Affairs and Planning on the basis of the attached schedule. His Consent Condition No: 20 reads 'The Conservation Management Plan for the building endorsed by the heritage Council on 1June 1995 and Section the Draft Management Plan for movable relics (we also have a copy of this document) shall form the basis for detailed design, conservation and interpretive decisions'. File is 468 PDF.
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE MINISTER FOR URBAN AFFAIRS AND PLANNING ;1997 Titled WORLD CLASS MACHINERY SAVED. This $300 k Government grant did not get used for its granted purpose which was to conserve and make the machinery operational. File is 164 KB PDF.
NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF LICENSE AND NOTICE TO QUIT; 2008 To Guido Gouverneur & Wrought Artworks PL. File is 139 PDF.
EVELEIGH PRECINCT CONSERVATION POLICY -The very first Conservation Policy by the NSW Planning Department, funded by the Federal " Better Cities program" 1994. This details what functions the Active Workshop , being 'the preferred option' ,overall operation could include. ( All of the criteria of work is performed by Wrought Artworks). File is 331 KLb PDF.
In this letter of 14 July 2008 from the The National Trust to the Heritage Branch, Department of Planning the Trust says "It is difficult to imagine any more appropriate operation in this historic workshop. This is one of those rare occurrences when the perfect "tenant" can be found for such a unique and historically important industrial heritage site and collection".
The Chief of staff to the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning wrote this letter to The Institution of Engineers, Australia in July 1996 outlining the role of the Blacksmith shop in the Minister’s consent of the development application for the Locomotive Workshop building. The letter says: “The first 2 bays of the building will enable the full appreciation of the historic significance of the place, with collections and assemblages of machinery on display and machinery being operated by the blacksmith. The blacksmith operation is proposed to be open to public view. It is considered that the proposal retains the significance of the place while allowing the adaptive reuse of the building which will ensure its long term conservation.”
This is a letter from 1988 from The Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of American History Washington DC about the importance, and the great rarity of the machinery collection here at Eveleigh. The File is 927 KB PDF with OCR overlay.
This article writen by Sunanda Creagh in the Sydney Morning Herald of August 2, 2008 about the broader issues of North Eveleigh also covers the problems facing Wrought artworks at the ATP Blacksmith Shop. The articlke reports that "The ALP's lord mayoral candidate, Meredith Burgmann, says she will lobby her Labor colleagues on behalf of Gouverneur. "I think Sydney's industrial heritage is fast disappearing and something as important as this needs to be kept," she says".
In 2000 Questions were asked of the NSW Government over the status of the Grant for conservation and interpretation of machinery in Bays 1 and 2. At that stage only $40,000 of the $300,000 one to one matching grant had been expended. The balance work for which the grant was given was not undertaken. It is not known if the funds were transferred to the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority for the Australian Technology Park and if so what happened to the funds. Had the ATP implemented the work covered by the Heritage Assistance Grant the situation of Wrought Artworks and the equipment in Bays 1 & 2 could have been very different from what it is today.
This email was circulated by Wrought Artworks requesting support for their Open Day on Sunday August 17th 2008 and for support of the campaign to keep the Blacksmiths operating at the Australian Technology Park.
This letter was submitted by Robert Domm to the Sydney Morning Herald in response to the SMH's "Battle Stations for North Eveleigh" on August 2 2008 and Brian Dunnett's letter "Ditching Eveleigh agreement robs the future by discounting the past". In the letter the RWA say "This commercial issue is being misrepresented as a heritage issue ... Should the current business be required to vacate, the ATP will keep the heritage equipment in place and establish an alternative blacksmithing operation sympathetic to the history of the site."
Brian Dunnett responded to Robert Domm's response to the SMH's "Battle Stations for North Eveleigh" on August 2 and Brian Dunnett's letter "Ditching Eveleigh agreement robs the future by discounting the past" that was published in the SMH on the 4th August.