Since the
University exhibited its initial plans last year it has further consulted
groups including the community and school, Sydney Council and state Departments
of Education and of Planning. As a result the University has made considerable
modifications to its plans including: “Reducing the overall bulk and scale of
the original proposal; Integrating the joinery workshop building to keep a
meaningful heritage connection to previous uses of the site; Maintaining the
large Sydney Blue Gum tree and the existing corner park as a key part of the
landscape strategy; Significantly increasing building setbacks to Codrington
Street and Darlington Public School; Increasing pedestrian access throughout
the development precinct; Moving the entrance to the underground car park
further away from the school.
While the
car park entrance is no longer adjacent to the school it stillremains on
Abercrombie Street, contrary to earlier undertakings to the community by the
University Vice Chancellor and infrastructure staff that “[i]n response to
concerns from residents and parents of school children, we have relocated the
entry to the basement car park from Abercrombie Street to Darlington Lane”.
The
University defends the decision about the entrance “as it means other competing
principles such as pedestrian access through the site, retention of the Sydney
Blue Gum tree, retention of the old Joinery workshop and a reduced building
scale can be achieved”.
The new
design may have provided “an east-west pathway, parallel to Abercrombie Street,
suitable for bicycles, prams and specifically designed for school children …
to a newly proposed gate entrance at the Darlington Public School [which]
avoids any vehicular crossovers, existing or proposed … developed in
conjunction with the Department of Education” but it will not address increased
traffic volumes past the school on what the University believes is an
underutilised sub-arterial road.
In a letter
to the Vice Chancellor Dr Michael Spence, resident group RAIDD (Residents
Acting In Darlington’s Defence) wrote that “residents of Darlington already
bear a greatly reduced amenity because of the large number of students …
seeking car
parking, despite the fact that the University is well serviced by public
transport”. While the University asserts that “the car parking is required
under the building in order to replace the existing on-street car park spaces
which will be eliminated by the building”, residents argue the Seymour Centre
Car Park, less than 600 metres from the Business School site, sits virtually
empty while students seek free parking on the surrounding streets.
Peripheral
car parks are in line with the University’s Master Plan vision of a pedestrian
priority campus. The problem for residents is that suburbs surrounding all
sides of the University will bear the brunt of the university-generated traffic
excluded from the centre of the campus.
Secretary
of RAIDD and parent of a Darlington student, Mary Ellen McCue, said: “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.”
Project
information and a model are on display in the foyer of the University’s
Services Building, 22 Codrington Street, until Tuesday March 20, Monday to
Friday 8.30am-4.30pm and on the University’s website: www.sydney.edu.au/abercrombie_precinct
Source: South Sydney Herald March 2012 – www.southsydneyherald.com.au
Also see the RAIDD Media Release Uni Vice Chancellor Backflips
and Sydney Uni Explains February Changes to Buisness School Plans