The Trust has argued for the identification of North
Eveleigh as a railway heritage precinct for over two decades and, during this
time, a series of changes have occurred that have progressively altered and
constrained these opportunities.
Although the conversion of the Carriage workshops to house performance
arts may be an acceptable adaptive reuse of one building in isolation, it is
not the best use for the building, it ignores the heritage significance of the
building itself (except architecturally) and greatly limits the ability of the
rest of the site to be used for rail purposes.
Future planning by the Redfern Waterloo Authority for the North Eveleigh precinct will further limit any opportunities
for rail heritage.
In many ways, the proposed future for North Eveleigh may, in
isolation, appear to be an acceptable adaptation of the site but, when
considered in the context of rail heritage in NSW, its current situation and
expected future resourcing, the Government’s plans for North
Eveleigh represent an important series of lost opportunities based
upon misdirected priorities. Whilst there may be attractive short-term
financial benefits with the redevelopment of North Eveleigh for residential and
commercial purposes, the long-term management of rail heritage in NSW is placed
at jeopardy through an inappropriate, virtually inaccessible, location, lack of
fundamental facilities and insufficient support to the potentially large
volunteer community that traditionally is available to assist the conservation
and operation of rail heritage.
The present approach to rail heritage in NSW negates
virtually all the commercial interstate and international tourism opportunities
that exist in the rail heritage sphere that would be fundamental in ensuring
that rail heritage would not be a drain on the public purse and thereby ensures
that this popular and historically significant transport technology will always
remain problematic and costly to manage.
Such short-sighted public sector planning is disappointing and, in our
opinion, does not reflect the desires or expectations of the public at large.
The Trust is strongly supporting the Friends of Eveleigh’s
nomination of the Large Erecting Shop, its contents including 3801 and
carriages (now removed from the building) and the connection to the main
railway line for listing on the National Heritage List. Yesterday the Trust
wrote again to Federal Heritage Minister Peter Garrett about the disposal by
Railcorp of historic rolling stock and carriages and the present condition of
3801.
Graham
Quint
Conservation Director
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Watson
Road, Observatory Hill
Sydney NSW 2000
GPO Box 518, Sydney 2001
P:
+61 2 9258 0179 F: +61 2 9252
1264
www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au