Christine Forster – Liberal Coucillor City of Sydney – Redfern Station Accessibility Upgrade
Liberal City of Sydney Councillor Christine Forster has welcomed an announcement by Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian about plans to make trains at Redfern Station accessible to people in wheelchairs and parents with prams for the first time. The State Government has issued a tender for a concept design to provide lift access to one platform at Redfern, allowing customers to access all train lines via Central Station.
“The lack of wheelchair and pram access at Redfern Station has been a pressing problem for the community for many years but was never addressed by successive State Labor governments,” said Councillor Forster. “I have been advocating for action since I was elected to Council in 2012, and I welcome the Minister for Transport’s plan to address this issue by installing a lift. Redfern Station is one of the busiest in Sydney and it is vital that it is accessible to all members of the local community.”
Councillor Forster also praised plans by Transport for NSW to address other issues at Redfern Station. “Real action by the State Government to upgrade Redfern’s ageing infrastructure and reduce congestion on platforms will deliver tangible benefits to this thriving inner city suburb,” she said.
Lobby group Lift Redfern, which is associated with community organisation REDwatch, also welcomed the news. Lift Redfern had previously lodged a petition signed by over 11,000 people seeking at least one lift as an initial response from the Government while upgrade plans for Redfern Station were put in place. “We and the 50,000 people who use the Station daily look forward to Redfern becoming fully accessible from all directions in the not too distant future” said REDWatch spokesman Geoffrey Turnbull.
(Source: Media Statement)
Irene Doutney – Liberal Councillor City of Sydney -Redfern station to finally be made accessible
The news yesterday that a lift will be installed at Redfern railway station
was a rare piece of good news for a community that has campaigned long
and hard for this investment, which is essential to providing equity of
access to this important transport hub.
The news comes just under a year after our state politicians disappointed the people of Redfern with their underwhelming response to the issue and almost a year and a half after I had the honour of launching the Lift Redfern campaign with federal disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innis.
While any progress on providing access to the station, which is used
by over 50 000 people per day but can currently only be reached via
steep staircases and escalators, is appreciated this week’s announcement
is mostly only an interim measure as the transport minister has stated
that a lift will be provided to only one platform at this stage.
Hopefully yesterday’s announcement will shortly be followed by a
timeline for the implementation of the single lift in the short term and
a longer term plan to install access facilities across all the
station’s platforms.
While the announcement is currently only small scale and awaiting a
defined timeline the fact that anything is happening at all represents a
significant victory for the community. The Lift Redfern campaign
has seen dozens of community volunteers invest hundreds of hours into
collecting thousands of signatures and highlighting the importance of
this upgrade.
I was thus surprised by the fact that the transport minister’s press release announcing
the investment didn’t mention this community involvement and instead
singled out Liberal Councillor Christine Forster as a strong advocate
for the project. While all relevant parties have provided varying
measures of support for the campaign I’m not aware of Christine Forster
personally having any involvement – I’ve never seen her at a meeting or
an action of the campaign group and never heard her say anything
publicly on the matter. Most of the hard work of the campaign was done
and dusted by the time she was elected to Council.
Still, politics aside, this is a victory for the community and
everyone genuinely involved should be congratulated. I look forward to
this announcement resulting in action on the ground as soon as possible.
(Source: http://clrdoutney.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/redfern-station-to-finally-be-made-accessible/)
Ron Hoenig ALP Member for Heffron in Central Magazine -Community Wins Big Victory in Station Lift Struggle
THE installation of a muchneeded lift at Redfern station has finally been given the green light by the State Government.
The announcement, which has been seen as a community victory, came from
NSW Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian after more than 50,000
signatures were gathered to ensure the issue was debated in NSW
Parliament.
Heffron state Labor MP RonHoenig said the installation of a lift at the busy station was long overdue.
‘‘I am exceptionally pleased with this result as the community has
waited patiently for years and has been advocating for a lift at
Redfern,’’ he said.
‘‘It is one of the biggest stations in Sydney after Central and is 150
years old and people have continued to talk about its redevelopment over
the years but nothing has happened. So over the years you have had a population increase and
council encouraging more people to use public transport but all these
elderly residents, people with disabilities and mums with prams and
strollers have not been able to use Redfern station because there has
been no lift access.’’
Mr Hoenig said while the station will only be receiving lift access on one platform, it would be enough to alleviate the problem for now.
‘‘I feel like we have achieved the impossible with this and while
the whole station does really need to be completely redeveloped this
will at least allow people to commute to Central, where they can change
onto another line,’’ Mr Hoenig said.
‘‘The community should be proud of this result. They were the ones who lead the way.
They were the ones who just wanted access to one platform and in
my 30 years in politics I have never seen a community so reasonable and
moderate in their request. It was because of them it enabled me to lobby
the minister without sounding unreasonable.’’
Labor councillor Linda Scott said she was pleased with the announcement.
(Source: Central Magazine 21 August 2013)
Dr Mehreen Faruqi – Greens Oposition Spokesperson on Transport -Redfern Lift Must Become
a Reality
NSW
Greens Transport Spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC, today welcomed the
announcement of the tender for a lift at Redfern, but cautioned that the
community will be holding the Government to account.
“After
more than twenty years of lobbying from the community, this marks the first
firm commitment to accessibility at Redfern Station
“I congratulate the local
community who came together and have been campaigning tirelessly to make
Redfern Station accessible.
‘‘But
let’s keep this in perspective; the announcement is a tender for one lift to
one platform at Redfern Station. People with mobility restrictions will still
face difficulties in moving between platforms to change trains, regardless of
where their final destination is.
“The
announcement of the tender marks just the first step towards making Redfern
station accessible.
“I look forward to firm timelines from the Minister for
Transport for the instalment of the first lift at Redfern station with others
to follow closely.
“The Government must ensure this announcement makes it from
press release to reality”, Dr Faruqi concluded.
(Source: Media Release)
At last: lift announced for Redfern Station
The
State Government’s announcement that Redfern Railway Station will
finally receive a lift has been hailed by a range of community figures reports Peter Hachney in the Hub of 22 August 2013.
The announcement, made last Thursday by NSW Transport Minister Gladys
Berejiklian, means the station will become accessible to customers in
wheelchairs and parents with prams for the first time.
A tender has been issued for a concept design to provide lift access
to one platform, allowing customers to access all train lines via
Central Station, Ms Berejiklian said.
“At the moment it is virtually impossible for people in wheelchairs
to access trains at Redfern, and extremely difficult for parents with
prams and the elderly, so this is a good start to ensure all customers
can access the network at Redfern,” she said.
While only one platform will have a lift at this stage, passengers
not travelling directly to the upgraded platform could catch a train to
Central and transfer back by train to the desired platform.
Transport for NSW is also investigating works to address ageing
infrastructure, congestion on platforms and better integration of the
station into the surrounding neighbourhood, said the Transport Minister.
Ms Berejiklian’s Liberal colleague, City of Sydney Councillor
Christine Forster, said: “This is such an important issue for the local
community and the announcement of plans to install a lift at Redfern is
very welcome after years of inaction by the previous State Government.”
Ms Forster’s Labor rival, Councillor Linda Scott, also welcomed the
news. “This is a victory for the community who have worked tirelessly
for lifts at Redfern Station, and especially those who gathered over
50,000 signatures to ensure this issue was debated in NSW Parliament,”
said Ms Scott.
“As with previous upgrades to Newtown Station, if this lift is
installed and Redfern Station is upgraded, it will make a concrete
difference to the lives of inner-city residents.”
But Ms Scott said providing one lift would ideally be “a first step” –
a sentiment echoed by Geoff Turnbull, spokesperson for Redfern Eveleigh
Darlington Waterloo Watch (REDWatch).
While Mr Turnbull praised the “interim solution”, he said the ultimate goal was a lift for every platform.
“We and the 50,000 people who use the station daily look forward to
Redfern becoming fully accessible from all directions in the not too
distant future,” he said.
Source: www.altmedia.net.au/at-last-lift-announced-for-redfern-station/81919